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RecruitingNCT06271759PSYFRAGUpdated Jun 24, 2024

Psychological Effects of a Set of Essential Oils

An interventional study of Fragrance inhalation in Stress, Anxiety and Well-Being, Psychological, sponsored by University of Bucharest. Recruiting at 1 site in Romania. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-06-24.

Primary conditionAnxiety Disorders(the registry's first term)UnverifiedIs this wrong?The registry often attaches Anxiety Disorders to studies about something else, and this study's title and listed conditions do not name it. No better condition is named, so the registry's term is kept.

Sponsored by University of Bucharest · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Nov 2024, 1 year 11 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Apr 2024; still recruiting 2 years 7 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
80
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve wellness through aromatherapy. The main question it aims to answer is whether this intervention can deliver beneficial psychological effects on stress, anxiety and mood, as well as overall well-being.

Participants will receive a bottle with a no/neutral odor or an essential oil (or a blend of essential oils) for home administration and will be asked to complete a series of scales pre and post self-administration twice one week apart.

Read the detailed description

The potential beneficial effects of a set of Essential Oils (EO) are being tested in the form of a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT). There are five conditions: a control (receiving a neutral/no-odor stimulus) and four active groups (receiving one of the four EO).

The study is a within-subjects/between-subjects design with five arms and involves comparisons between pre-intervention and post-intervention between: (a) Initial psychological states of the participants, and (b) After inhalation of the stimuli. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of the five experimental arms.

For medium effect sizes assumed (f = 0.25), 5 groups and two measurements in time (pre and post stimulus administration) a minimum of 80 subjects total sample size is needed.

Affective states (relaxation, contentment, happiness, motivation, tension), as well as data on mood; depression, anxiety, and stress will be assessed.

Data about familiarity, pleasantness and intensity of the stimuli will also be collected.

02

Conditions studied

  • Stress
  • Anxiety
  • Well-Being, Psychological
  • Mood

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Keywords

  • Fragrances
  • Essential Oils
  • Well-being
  • Psychological effects
  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Depression
03

In context

Anxiety Disorders Unverified

7,201 studies on the registry are indexed under Anxiety Disorders; 1,682 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 80 is close to the median of 80 across 6,057 interventional studies indexed under Anxiety Disorders.

Browse Anxiety Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Bucharest is the lead sponsor of 11 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

Compared within Anxiety Disorders, the registry's first condition term, which may not be this study's main condition. Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adults (at least 18 years old)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Allergies to Essential Oils
  • Medical conditions that could have an effect on sense of smell
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
80 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Fragrance 1 Group

    At-home administration of one of the four active stimuli (fragrances), according to the following protocol: 1. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (pre-measurements), tapping into mood, affective states, well-being. 2. Participants will inhale the fragranced stimulus for approximately 10 minutes. 3. After the completion of step 2, participants will engage in a neutral activity for about 15 minutes. 4. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (post-measurements). 5. Participants will repeat this protocol one week apart.

    Other: Fragrance inhalation

  • Experimental
    Fragrance 2 Group

    At-home administration of one of the four active stimuli (fragrances), according to the following protocol: 1. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (pre-measurements), tapping into mood, affective states, well-being. 2. Participants will inhale the fragranced stimulus for approximately 10 minutes. 3. After the completion of step 2, participants will engage in a neutral activity for about 15 minutes. 4. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (post-measurements). 5. Participants will repeat this protocol one week apart.

    Other: Fragrance inhalation

  • Experimental
    Fragrance 3 Group

    At-home administration of one of the four active stimuli (fragrances), according to the following protocol: 1. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (pre-measurements), tapping into mood, affective states, well-being. 2. Participants will inhale the fragranced stimulus for approximately 10 minutes. 3. After the completion of step 2, participants will engage in a neutral activity for about 15 minutes. 4. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (post-measurements). 5. Participants will repeat this protocol one week apart.

    Other: Fragrance inhalation

  • Experimental
    Fragrance 4 Group

    At-home administration of one of the four active stimuli (fragrances), according to the following protocol: 1. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (pre-measurements), tapping into mood, affective states, well-being. 2. Participants will inhale the fragranced stimulus for approximately 10 minutes. 3. After the completion of step 2, participants will engage in a neutral activity for about 15 minutes. 4. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (post-measurements). 5. Participants will repeat this protocol one week apart.

    Other: Fragrance inhalation

  • No intervention
    No Fragrance Group

    At-home administration of the neutral/no-odor stimulus, according to the following protocol: 1. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (pre-measurements), tapping into mood, affective states, well-being. 2. Participants will inhale the non-fragranced stimulus for approximately 10 minutes. 3. After the completion of step 2, participants will engage in a neutral activity for about 15 minutes. 4. Participants will complete a series of psychological scales (post-measurements). 5. Participants will repeat this protocol one week apart.

Interventions

  • OtherFragrance inhalation

    Inhalation of fragranced essential oils

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Affective states - relaxation

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  2. Affective states - contentment

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  3. Affective states - happiness

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  4. Affective states - stress

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  5. Affective states - motivation

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  6. Affective states - tension

    Changes in momentary affective states are assessed with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). VAS are 10-cm long analog scales, scored 0-100.

    Time frame: Up to three months

  7. Emotional changes

    Changes in emotional patterns are assessed based on their intensity, one of the three components of emotional reactivity from the Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire (MEQ). The questionnaire represents a reliable general measure of emotional experience, focusing on 10 discrete emotions (5 positive and 5 negative). Intensity is rated on a 5-Likert scale that ranges from 1 - Very low to 5 - Very high.

    Time frame: Up to three months

Secondary outcomes

  1. General mental health - Depression

    Depressive symptoms are assessed with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21).

    Time frame: Up to three months

  2. General mental health - Anxiety

    Anxiety symptoms are assessed with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21).

    Time frame: Up to three months

  3. General mental health - Stress

    Stress is assessed with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21).

    Time frame: Up to three months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 24, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06271759
Lead sponsor
University of Bucharest
Collaborators
IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances)
Responsible party
Cezar Giosan (Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Bucharest) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 22, 2024
Start date
Apr 4, 2024
Primary completion
Nov 15, 2024 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 15, 2024 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 24, 2024

Study contacts

Cezar Giosan, PhD
Contact
giosan@outlook.com
+40730908050
Cezar Giosan, PhD
principal investigator · University of Bucharest

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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