the effect of citrus aurantium aroma on the sleep quality in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial

Background: one of the most common problems in menopausal women is sleep disturbance. citrusaurantium has sedative, hypnotic, and anti-anxiety effects. the aim of this study was to investigate theeffect of citrus aurantium aroma on the sleep quality of postmenopausal women.methods: this was a double-blind randomized controlled trial that was conducted from feb todec 2019 on 80 postmenopausal women who suffered from sleep disturbances. the participantswere assigned into two groups randomly. women in the intervention group were requested to use2 drops of essential oil of citrus aurantium, twice a day, for 4 consecutive days in a week, for 4weeks as inhalation. the control group received almond oil in the same way. the quality of sleep wasevaluated using the pittsburgh sleep quality index (psqi) before the intervention and 4 weeks afterthe intervention started. the data were analyzed using the spss statistical software, version 21, andp<0.05 was considered statistically significant.results: after 4-weeks of intervention, the mean score of sleep quality was significantly lower inthe citrus aurantium group compared to the control group (5.75±1.33 vs 13±1.59, p<0.001). in theintervention group, all dimensions of psqi were improved significantly (p<0.001).conclusion: the results of this study showed that the aroma of citrus aurantium essence couldsignificantly improve the sleep quality of postmenopausal women. therefore, it is recommended that health care providers should inform the postmenopausal women and advise them to use this intervention for reduction of sleep disorders.