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. 2022 Nov 18;19(22):15251.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192215251.

Relaxing Effects of Breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii and Lavandula angustifolia Essential Oils on Psychophysiological Status in Older Adults

Ya-Hui Chung  1 , Shiu-Jen Chen  2 , Ching-Luug Lee  1 , Chun-Wei Wu  3 , Yu-Sen Chang  1
Affiliations

Relaxing Effects of Breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii and Lavandula angustifolia Essential Oils on Psychophysiological Status in Older Adults

Ya-Hui Chung et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii (P. menziesii) and Lavandula angustifolia (L. angustifolia) essential oils (EOs) during a horticultural activity on older adults. A total number of 92 older adult (71.2 ± 7.7 years old) participants were guided through a leaf printing procedure. In the meantime, water vapor and EOs were diffused in an orderly manner. The heart rate variability-related parameters as well as the brain waves were recorded. In addition, we also collected data for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S) questionnaires before and after the whole indoor natural activity program. The physiological parameters including standard deviation of normal to normal intervals, normalized high frequency (nHF), and high alpha wave increased while the normalized low frequency (nLF), the ratio of LF-to-HF power, high beta wave, and gamma wave decreased following the breathing of P. menziesii and L. angustifolia EOs. These changes indicated a relaxing effect of breathing both EOs during a horticultural activity on older adults. Our results demonstrated a beneficial effect of P. menziesii EO which is as good as a well-known relaxant L. angustifolia EO. This notion was supported by the results of STAI-S. Here we developed an indoor natural activity program for older adults to promote physical and mental health.

Keywords: emotion; essential oils; older adults; psychophysiological status.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The procedure of the experiment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The heart rate variability (HRV)-related physiological parameters. Following the baseline period, an indoor horticultural activity, leaf printing, began. During the leaf printing procedure, water vapor (water), water vapor with Pseudotsuga menziesii essential oil (P.m. EO), water vapor (water), and water vapor with Lavandula angustifolia essential oil (L.a. EO) were given in an orderly manner. The values of SDNN (standard deviation of normal to normal intervals) increased during the exposures of both EOs (A). The percentages of nLF (normalized low frequency) reduced while the participants were breathing EOs (B). Correspondingly, the percentages of nHF (normalized high frequency) increased while breathing EOs (C). The LF/HF ratio decreased when both EOs were given (D). Data were collected from 92 participants and presented as mean ± SE. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01. ***, p < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The brain-waves-related physiological parameters. After the baseline period, an indoor horticultural activity, leaf printing, was introduced. In the meantime, water vapor (water), water vapor with Pseudotsuga menziesii essential oil (P.m. EO), water vapor (water), and water vapor with Lavandula angustifolia essential oil (L.a. EO) were diffused into the air in an orderly manner. The values of high alpha wave increased during the diffusion of both EOs (A). The values of high beta wave decreased while EOs were given (B). The gamma wave was reduced while breathing EOs (C). Data were collected from 92 participants and presented as mean ± SE. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01, Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
STAI-S scores before and after the horticultural activity and diffusion of EOs. In all questions, the scores decreased dramatically in the post-test STAI-S questionnaire. @ indicates a positive question. Data were collected from 92 participants and presented as mean ± SE. *, p < 0.05; ***, p < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
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Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan (111-2313-B-002-028, 111-2622-8-002-018-TS1), and the Council of Agriculture (COA) in Taiwan (111AS-3.3.1-FS-#1, 110AS-3.3.1-FS-#1).