Essential Oil Inhalation on Blood Pressure and Salivary Cortisol Levels in Prehypertensive and Hypertensive Subjects

Table 3

Subgroup analysis of home SBP after inhalation.

	Group	Pretest	Posttest	Difference; (posttest and pretest)	Kruskal-Wallis; 𝜒^2	𝑃
SBP
	Aromatherapy; (𝑛=13)	130.8 ± 5.65	125.8 ± 6.00	−4.96 ± 1.89^a
Prehypertension	Placebo; (𝑛=10)	130.0 ± 7.91	130.3 ± 8.10	0.33 ± 1.62^b	22.479	<.001
	Control; (𝑛=14)	130.8 ± 7.45	131.4 ± 7.37	0.55 ± 2.35^b
	Aromatherapy; (𝑛=15)	133.5 ± 5.54	129.1 ± 5.14	−4.47 ± 2.00^a
Hypertension	Placebo; (𝑛=17)	135.2 ± 8.42	136.5 ± 8.69	1.35 ± 1.64^b	28.615	<.001
	Control; (𝑛=14)	135.5 ± 5.66	136.3 ± 5.94	0.78 ± 1.68^b
DBP
	Aromatherapy; (𝑛=13)	84.1 ± 5.00	83.2 ± 5.30	−0.95 ± 1.67
Prehypertension	Placebo; (𝑛=10)	82.9 ± 6.47	83.0 ± 6.98	0.08 ± 1.79	2.511	.285
	Control; (𝑛=14)	82.9 ± 6.88	82.7 ± 6.83	−0.23 ± 1.73
	Aromatherapy; (𝑛=15)	87.2 ± 5.58	85.7 ± 5.43	−1.45 ± 1.38^a
Hypertension	Placebo; (𝑛=17)	84.4 ± 7.97	84.7 ± 8.73	0.30 ± 2.08^b	8.223	.016
	Control; (𝑛=14)	87.0 ± 6.63	86.7 ± 7.12	−0.31 ± 1.62^b

Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation; Different superscripts (a, or b) indicate a significant difference (Tukey’s test; 𝑃<.05); BP: blood pressure.