Aromaterapia na redução da ansiedade em universitários da área da saúde : uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Aromatherapy is recognized in Brazil as an integrative and complementary practice and can provide relief from anxiety. Anxiety disorders represent the most prevalent type of mental disorder in the world, with a worldwide prevalence of 3.6%. Considering the training phase in higher education a critical stage, university students can experience intense changes in their mental health with symptoms of pathological anxiety and stress, especially for students in the health area. Thus, the search for effective solutions to reduce these symptoms, which can impair academic performance and quality of life, is necessary. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to review in the literature the effectiveness of aromatherapy in reducing anxiety in health students. Bibliographic searches were carried out considering works published in English, Portuguese and Spanish, indexed in the electronic databases Medline, SciELO, Literatura LatinoAmericana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS), Scopus and ScienceDirect. Based on established criteria, 8 studies were reviewed. In view of the above, aromatherapy with lavender essential oil can reduce test anxiety in nursing students, more studies that address physiological parameters and academic performance are needed to confirm its effectiveness.