Effectiveness of Lemon Essential Oil of Aromatherapy in Reducing Test Anxiety in Nursing Students

While studies on the role of aromatherapy in reducing test anxiety exist, those evaluating the effects of lemon essential oil on test anxiety are extremely limited. In this study, the effect of a different aromatherapy application on reducing test anxiety was tried to be determined by using lemon essential oil. It is envisaged to provide an alternative aromatherapy application to students and educators to reduce test anxiety through the results obtained in the study.

• lemon essential oil (Other): A randomized, pre-test-post-test design was carried out to examine the effectiveness of lemon essential oil in reducing test anxiety in first-year students of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of a private university in Istanbul

Primary outcomes

• Personal Information Form [30 minutes]: The personal information form contained nine questions on age, gender, education level, profession, place of residence, socio-economic status and total GPA (Grade Point Average).
• Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) [30 minutes]: Developed by Bozkurt (2019), the scale evaluates the degree of anxiety students feel before a test on a scale of 0 to 10. A score of 0 indicates no anxiety, while a score of 10 indicates severe anxiety 28
• State Test Anxiety Scale [30 minutes]: Developed by Şahin in 2019, this scale determines students' anxiety levels before a test. It is a 4-point Likert-type scale consisting of three sub-dimensions and 22 items. The cognitive dimension consists of nine items (3, 4, 7, 9, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22), wherein the lowest possible score is nine and the highest score is 36. The psychosocial dimension consists of five items (6, 10, 12, 13, 21), wherein the lowest possible score is 5 and the highest score is 20. The physiological dimension includes eight items (1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, 17, 19), wherein the lowest possible score is 8 and the highest score is 32. Possible scores on the scale ranged between 22 and 88

Sex: All, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

* No respiratory system diseases (Asthma, Flu etc.)
* no allergy to any smell, no pregnancy status,
* absence of epilepsy discomfort,
* not having a condition that prevents smell, not using any medication that will affect heart rate and blood pressure,

exclusion criteria

* Any respiratory system disease (Asthma, Flu, etc.).
* have a known allergic response to essential oil to be used,
* Lack of smell, use of any medication affecting heart rate and blood pressure,
* to use other complementary medicine practices

• Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan (PDF, 2020-01-01)

• Züfünaz Özer, Principal investigator, Sabahattin Zaim University