The study was to examine the effects of aromatherapy program on depression and fatigue in middle aged women.

The study was a noneqivalent control group pretest-posttest design. After giving informed consent. Subjects were assigned to the aromatherapy program intervention or control groups. The subjects were given Zung's Self-Rating Scale test before the trial to evaluate their depression. Yoshitake's Fatigue Scale were used to measure the fatigue before and after the trial. Subjects in the experimental group received aromatherapy massage 3 times a week for 20 minutes during 2 weeks and inhaled essence oil from AM 10:00 to PM 8:00 every day for 2 weeks.

1) The decrease in the depression score was statistically significant(p<.000).

2) The decrease in the fatigue score was statistically significant (p<.002).

Aromatherapy program is an effective way to treat depression and fatigue in middle aged women. In particular, to compare with aromatherapy massage, inhaling essence oil appears to be a convenient method of offering support and maintaining optimal health in middle aged women.