Essential Oils for Agitation Management in Older Adults: A Mixed Method Study

• Conditions: Agitation prevention; Dementia; Alternative and Complementary Medicine - Other alternative and complementary medicine; Neurological - Dementias; Mental Health - Other mental health disorders

• Registration Number: ACTRN12614000130662
• Lead Sponsor: School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2014-02-04
• Last Update Posted: 13 January 2020

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ot yet recruiting
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

Older adult participant inclusion criteria
*Participants are aged 65 years or older.
*Participants must be living full time in a residential aged care facility (RACF) and have been a resident for 3 months to ensure they are familiar with the RACF processes and settled into their environment.
*A cognitive level of moderate or higher as demonstrated by a score above 10 on the mini mental state examination [MMSE] (American Psychiatric Association 1991).
*Recorded agitated behaviours on at least one of the Aged Care Funding Instrument [ACFI] behaviours domain questions. Behaviour question being question 7 wandering, question 8 verbal behaviours and question 9 physical agitations.
*Be stable upon medication for 3 months as confirmed by medication charts. Any changes in psychotropic medications needs to be reported to investigator.
*At least one, agitated behaviour with a frequency of at least 6 occurrences observed by the nurse in the last two weeks assessed on the NPI at baseline.
*Have no allergy to Lavender, Lemon Balm or Sunflower oil to be assessed at baseline.
*Ability to detect scent as demonstrated in a scent test at baseline.
*The participant or the person responsible, have given consent.

Exclusion Criteria

Older adult participant exclusion criteria
*Diagnosis of psychosis or agitation resulting from brain damage.
*The presence of an acute life-threatening condition as reported by staff or the local medical officer.
*Any condition that is likely to confound the study such as schizophrenia or Parkinson disease or another medical condition as determined by investigator to interfere with interpretation of study results.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Participant agitation levels will be observed, recorded and monitored throughout this study, in conjunction with a nurse carer, using the Neuropyschiatric Inventory (NPI) and Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory(CMAI). <br><br>The NPI and CMAI are validated and reliable measurement tools for agitation in this population.[NPI and CMAI data will be collected every two weeks coinciding with the conclusion of interventions and placebo treatments. NPI and CMAI data will also be collected at baseline and after every two week washout between treatment to give a new baseline.<br>]