The Effects of Aromatherapy Hands Massage on the Preoperative Anxiety of Stomach Cancer Patients

아로마테라피 손 마사지가 위암환자의 수술 전 불안에 미치는 효과

Purpose: The Purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of aromatherapy massage on the preoperative anxiety of stomach cancer patients. Method: The research design was a nonequivalent control group non synchronized design. The data were collected during the period of October 2 to December 30, 2005 at H Hospital in Seoul. The subjects were 40 patients who were operated under general anesthesia for stomach cancer. State anxiety, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate were measured on the day before surgery and the preoperative period. Data were analyzed by ${\chi}^2$ test, independent t-test, paired t-test. Results: Hypothesis 1 that the level of preoperative state anxiety of the experimental group who received aromatherapy massage is lower than that of the control group who did not received aromatherapy was supported(p=.004). Hypothesis 2 the physiological index of the preoperative anxiety of the experimental group who received aromatherapy is lower than that of the control group who did not received aromatherapy. Conclusion: According to these results, aromatherapy hand massage can be regarded as a partially effective nursing intervention that relives anxiety of surgical patients and decreases the blood pressure level.