The Effect of Orange Peel Essential Oil on Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Postpartum period exclusively at six weeks after the delivery is an important vulnerable time to develop the mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Objectives: This study is performed to determine the effect of orange peel essential oil on postpartum depression and anxiety. Patients and Methods: This Triple-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was done on 96 of postpartum women, 18 years old and older in two hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, and one hospital affiliated to Social Security Organization. The subjects were allocated into two intervention and control groups by block randomization method. Intervention group and control group received 10 drops of orange peel essential oil and 10 drops of Placebo, respectively, three times a day for 8 weeks. Depression and anxiety questionnaires were completed by subjects before and after intervention. General linear model was used to analyze data. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and depression and anxiety score before intervention (P>0.05). Through adjusting the baseline scores, there was no significant difference between groups in eight weeks of postpartum in term of mean score of depression (p=0.946), state anxiety (p=0.578) and trait (0.288) anxiety. Conclusions: This study didn't show the effect of orange peel essential oil on reducing postpartum depression and anxiety.