Can aromatherapy reduce restless legs syndrome in hemodialysis patients? a systematic review and meta-analysis.

It has been reported that approximately 339 million people worldwide suffer from allergic rhinitis (AR), which is known as one of the top 20 diseases causing inconvenience throughout one's life [,]. AR is known to affect 15%-20% of adults [-]. The symptoms of AR include an itchy nose, repeated sneezing, a runny nose, and a stuffy nose [,]. AR symptoms can persist for an extended duration and may lead to headaches, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, and ultimately a diminished quality of life (QoL) [-]. Consequently, various complementary alternative medicine (CAM) has been tried to alleviate AR symptoms [,]. These CAM therapies have been commonly used by 30%-60% of AR patients in various countries, including the United States [,,]. This indicates that patients are satisfied with the effectiveness of CAM for AR [,]. Aromatherapy is a commonly used CAM for AR []. Essential oil extracted from plants stimulates nerve pathways from the olfactory epithelium to the limbic system, contributing to its healing effects by balancing the autonomic nervous system [,]. Meanwhile, as the use of face masks increases due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, research into applying aromatherapy to face masks has been tried. The aromatherapy applied to the mask was reported to have reduced stress and anxiety [-], and also alleviated breathlessness caused by wearing the mask, resulting in a significant improvement in the comfort of breathing []. Using a face mask reduces the sensitization to antigens, which are the cause of AR symptoms [-]. However, there are still reports of subjects whose AR symptoms have not decreased despite the use of masks []. Therefore, there is a need for methods to alleviate AR symptoms and improve QoL by applying CAM such as aromatherapy, which can be additionally used on masks to more effectively control AR. Therefore, we aimed to confirm the effects of aromatherapy applied to masks on AR symptoms and AR-related QoL (ARSQOL).