The Effect of Aromatherapy with Citrus aurantium on Anxiety during MRI Imaging in Patients with Spinal Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: Anxiety is one of the most significant problems of patients during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Anxiety affects the quality of images, increased costs and repeating the imaging process. Aromatherapy is regarded a complementary therapy that is assumed to be highly effective in reducing anxiety. The present study aims at investigating the effect of aromatherapy with Citrus aurantium on anxiety in MRI imaging.

Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was done on 80 patients with spinal disorders that were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, inhaling Citrus aurantium essential oil was conducted two minutes before entering the MRI machine and right before entering the MRI machine. As for the control group, the patients were provided with only the common cares of the medical center. Right after the imaging process, the anxiety experienced was evaluated based on the Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Anxiety Questionnaire (MRI-AQ). The data collected were analyzed in SPSS-21 with statistical tests including independent T-test, Fisher’s exact test, and chi-squared test.

Results: The samples of both groups were homogenous in terms of age, sex, marital status, educational level, occupation, and the kind of disease. The mean of MRI anxiety experience was 23.32±12.72 and 37.4±15.41 in the intervention and control group respectively; the independent T-test indicated a significant difference.

Conclusion: Citrus aurantium is likely to reduce the anxiety in MRI imaging. Given the proper effectiveness, inexpensiveness, and the easy administration of this aromatherapy, it is recommended to be applied for reducing the MRI anxiety.