Comparison of the effect of Sedamin and aromatherapy with Lavender on fatigue severity of patients with heart failure: A three arm randomized controlled trial

Introduction: Fatigue is one of the main symptoms of heart failure, which leads to activity intolerance and self care impairment. Aromatherapy is one of the most popular and widely used methods among patients with chronic diseases. One reason for the popularity of complementary medicine methods is the ease of use and attention to patient preferences, so in this study, the effect of two herbal derivatives with two methods of consumption (oral and inhalation) was investigated. This study compared the effect of Lavender essence inhalation and oral Sedamin on fatigue severity in patients with heart failure. Methods: The three arm randomized controlled trial was conducted for 15 days on 120 patients with Heart Failure. The patients were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to three groups of Sedamin (containing 530 mg of Valerian root), Lavender (essence), and Control (routine care). The fatigue severity was measured using the Fatigue Severity Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics including the Friedman test, Fisher's exact test, Chi-square, one-way ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 software. Results: Fatigue severity was lower in the two intervention groups in the first week (P < 0.0001) and the second week (P < 0.0001) than in the control group. The fatigue severity was decreased in the two intervention groups in the first and the second weeks of intervention compared to baseline (P < 0.0001) and increased in the control group (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Aromatherapy with Lavender essence or oral Sedamin capsule are inexpensive and easy methods and were effective in alleviating fatigue in Patients with Heart Failure. To confirm the findings, further studies are recommended.