The effects of aroma massage and regular oil hand massage on the blood cortisol and serotonin level of elderly

Abstract

Modern society has seen an increase of opportunities to enter facilities due to the rise of diseases in aging population and the decrease of family members. This research is a quasi-experiment study conducted to verify the effects on facility elders’ blood cortisol and serotonin level by applying aroma oil hand massage and regular oil hand massage to them, in order to help improve their stress and depression. Aroma hand massage and regular oil hand massage were applied on the elders’ both hands for 10 minutes per session, 5 times week, for a total of 2 weeks. The study carried out the massage after receiving an approval from the Bioethics Committee of K University for the ethical considerations of study participants based on Helsinki Declaration. The subjects were informed that they could always be withdrawn at any time they want and that the confidentiality of study details would be guaranteed. Data was analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test, and the research results demonstrated that both aroma hand massage group and regular oil hand massage group did not have a significant decrease in the cortisol level before and after the experiment. In contrast, the serotonin level decreased significantly (p= .016) in the aroma oil hand massage group and thus depression increased significantly, but the serotonin level decreased (p= .066) in the regular oil hand massage group, causing the elders’ depression to increase. It is considered that a comparative study of aroma hand massage and regular oil hand massage on depression must be performed in the future. © 2016 SERSC.