doi:10.1093/ecam/nem027
Original Article
Subcategories of Menopausal Symptoms (all, P50.05), whereas the melancholia score (P50.05)
increased significantly in the control group.
Across all categories of menopausal symptoms measured
by the Kupperman index, the mean scores were lower
in the aromatherapy group after 8 weeks of treat-
Total Menopausal Index
ment, whereas most scores in the control group increased
(Fig. 1). There were significant intergroup differences in The mean baseline level of the menopausal index did not
the amount of hot flushes, melancholia and arthralgia differ between the two groups (t ¼ 0.72, P ¼ 0.47; Fig. 2).
and myalgia (all, P50.05). There were also significant However, after 8 weeks of treatment, Kupperman index
reductions in hot flushes, paresthesia and melancholia scores differed significantly between the aromatherapy
for the aromatherapy group compared with baseline group and the control group (t ¼ 2.08, P ¼ 0.043), with
significant changes from baseline in the aromatherapy
Table 1. Homogeneity test for demographic characteristics (N ¼ 52) group (t ¼ 2.83, P50.01). The change in the menopausal
index level was more significant in the aromatherapy
Characteristics Aromatherapy Control t or U P group than in the control group (t ¼ 3.00, P50.005,
(n ¼ 25) (n ¼ 27)
aromatherapy: 5.44 9.60, mean SD; control:
Age (year) 49.4 2.6 50.3 2.8 1.25 0.22 1.59 7.25).
Menache age (year) 15.2 1.3 15.2 1.7 336.0* 0.98
First birth age (year) 27.9 2.0 27.3 2.0 277.5* 0.27
Height (cm) 157.5 4.7 157.0 4.5 0.39 0.70 Discussion
Weight (kg) 56.0 6.4 58.3 6.6 1.26 0.21
In this study, subjects who received an aromatherapy
Body fat (%) 30.0 5.2 31.5 4.8 0.97 0.34 massage once a week for 8 weeks showed a greater
Endometrial 0.53 0.41 0.42 0.29 223.0* 0.26 reduction in menopausal symptoms than those in the
thickness (cm)
control group. More specifically, aromatherapy massage
Values are expressed as mean SD. improved hot flushes, depression and pain in climacteric
*Mann–Whitney U test. women.
Figure 1. Scores for each item in the Kupperman index at baseline and after eight weeks in the aromatherapy group (n ¼ 25) and the control group
(n ¼ 27). *P50.05 compared with control group.
328 Aromatherapy massage for menopausal symptoms
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Korea Research
Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government
(MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund) (KRF-
2004-002-E00179).
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