The effect of aromatherapy application on cognitive functions, anxiety and sleep quality in the elderly with diabetes

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of aromatherapy application on cognitive functions, anxiety and sleep quality in elderly people with diabetes. The sample of the randomized controlled study consisted of 63 participants (intervention 1 group=21, intervention 2 group=21, control group=21). Lavender inhalation was applied to intervention 1 group, rosemary inhalation to intervention 2 group, and distilled water inhalation to control group. The application continued for 28 days. Descriptive Characteristics Form, Blessed Orientation Concentration Test, State Trait Anxiety Scale, Pitsburg Sleep Quality Scale were used as data collection tools. Data were evaluated with descriptive statistics mean, standard deviation and median. One Way ANOVA Test, Mann Witney U Test, Kruskall Wallis Test, Wilcoxon Test and Friedman Test were used in addicted groups. According to the results of the study, significant results were obtained in cognitive functions, anxiety and sleep quality after the application in both intervention groups (p<0.05). A significant increase was found in the state anxiety 2nd week and 4th week scores of the control group compared to the baseline score (p<0.05). At the same time, statistically significant scores were obtained in both intervention groups compared to the control group in the post-application state anxiety, sleep quality scale total score and all subcomponents of sleep quality. There was no significant difference between the intervention groups (p>0.05). No side effects were encountered with the application. Lavender and rosemary inhalation can be used in the elderly with diabetes to improve cognitive status, anxiety and sleep quality. Based on the findings obtained from the study, the use of aromatherapy as a non-pharmacological, effective and easy method is recommended for the elderly with diabetes.