Effectiveness Of Aromatherapy In Healthcare Professionals During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review Protocol Of Randomized Clinical Trials

Background: Aromatherapy is an integrative and complementary practice that uses volatile concentrates extracted from plants, called Essential Oils, which are natural, complex and highly volatile chemical compounds, characterized by a strong aroma and produced as secondary metabolites of aromatic plants and have been associated with better health outcomes, such as reduced blood pressure, anxiety and stress. In this context, this protocol aims to identify the effectiveness of the use of aromatherapy in health professionals in combating Covid19. Materials and Methods: Systematic review protocol prepared according to the Cochrane methodology. Protocol published in Prospero (CRD42024508246) and its writing followed the PRISMA checklist guidelines. The PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE and LILACS databases will be consulted until December 2023 using the health descriptors “Aromatherapy”, “Health Personnel” and “COVID-19”. Randomized clinical trials that reported metrics associated with sleep quality, quality of life and anxiety and used aromatherapy will be included. Reviewers will independently screen eligible articles; extract data and assess risk of bias using the RoB 2.0 tool. Meta-analysis will be contemplated with random-effects models and the Mantel-Haenszel method. Associations will be reported as relative risks (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). Review Manager (RevMan) software will be used for the analyses. The quality of evidence will be assessed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many healthcare professionals who have been on the front lines in healthcare institutions. Identifying the effectiveness of aromatherapy is necessary to assist these professionals who have a high work demand. Conclusion: Knowledge about the effectiveness of the use of aromatherapy represented by the assessment of sleep quality, quality of life and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic will encourage new complementary studies on the subject, in addition to providing subsidies and data to assist in the creation and development of periodic monitoring programs for the health of workers working in health institutions