Essential Oil Aromatherapy Intervention
- Conditions
- Phobia Phlebotomy
- Interventions
- Other: Essential Oil
- Registration Number
- NCT02764567
- Lead Sponsor
- HealthEast Care System
- Brief Summary
Lab sampling for clinical trial participants can be a stressful and painful experience. Most trial participants will have blood drawn for lab samples at multiple study visits. The participants must fast for up to ten hours before the blood sampling, in many cases, and patients often report a painful experience if more than one venipuncture occurs. In addition, the number of collection tubes can increase the anxiety level of the patient and the phlebotomist.
This project proposes to evaluate if essential oil aromatherapy results in less pain and /or anxiety when compared to usual care.
- Detailed Description
The process of drawing blood for can be painful and stressful for any patient. Those patients who participate in a clinical trial agree to frequent lab sampling to monitor for effect and safety of the investigational product. The frequency is variable, from several times a day for a participant in the hospital to annually for some trials. Participants have reported anxiety regarding the number of tubes to be drawn, even resulting in near syncope, and pain with the venipuncture process.
The clinical trial nurses at HealthEast have utilized a variety of therapeutic techniques to ease the pain and anxiety experienced by the trial subjects, such as redirection, deep breathing, hand massage and guided imagery. These techniques have not been evaluated for effectiveness in easing pain and anxiety nor have they been compared with no intervention to determine if any intervention was more efficacious in alleviating pain and/or anxiety.
The primary objective of this study is determine if aromatherapy with an essential oil has a higher reported effect in anxiety and pain relief with venipunctures than standard of care (no therapy) among participants in HealthEast Clinical Trials Office studies.
Secondary objectives include comparing the number of venipunctures and blood collection tubes in the treatment arms.
This is a randomized, open label, prospective single site study designed to determine the effect of essential oil aromatherapy compared to usual care on pain and anxiety associated with venipunctures for clinical trial participants in the HealthEast Heart Care Clinic.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 33
- Must be at least 18 years of age
- Must be currently participating in a clinical trial at HealthEast
- Known allergy to any of the oils used for aromatherapy
- Less than age 18
- Declined to participate
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Aromatherapy Essential Oil The participants randomized to aromatherapy will be offered one of three essential oils, 'applied' to their smell zone via cotton ball that are known to have anti-anxiety effect. These are: * ginger * calming * lavender The participant's choice will be documented in a database. The participant can chose an oil each time (i.e., they are not bound to use only the first choice oil). Pain and anxiety will be measured prior to receiving the essential oils and again after the phlebotomy procedure. Blood pressure and pulse will also be measured post-phlebotomy.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in Anxiety Scores At the time of study enrollment and again upon completion at 6 months Change in Pain Scores At the time of study enrollment and again upon completion at 6 months
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Number of venipunctures needed to collect required sample At the time of study completion at 6 months Number of blood collection tubes required for sample At the time of study completion at 6 months
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
HealthEast Clinical Trials Office
🇺🇸Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States