The efficacy of lavender oil on fatigue and sleep quality in patients with hematological malignancy receiving chemotherapy: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

The short version

This single-blind randomized controlled trial with 100 hospitalized adults explored whether inhaling lavender essential oil could ease two of the most disruptive symptoms of chemotherapy for blood cancer patients: fatigue and poor sleep. Fatigue here means a persistent, whole-body exhaustion that isn't relieved by rest and that chemotherapy drugs are known to intensify, while sleep quality captures how deep, continuous, and restorative a night's sleep actually is rather than just its duration. Lavender oil, extracted from a hybrid of two Mediterranean Lavandula species, is inhaled rather than ingested, working through its scent's effect on the brain's limbic system rather than any drug-like mechanism. Fifty adults with hematological cancers (multiple myeloma, leukemias, lymphomas) receiving chemotherapy in an Istanbul hospital were assigned to inhale two drops of lavender oil from a shoulder-pinned sponge for 20 minutes each night before bed, for five consecutive nights; another 50 received unscented saline the same way. Neither group knew which oil they were smelling. Fatigue was scored with the 22-item Piper Fatigue Scale and sleep with the six-item Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire, both completed at baseline and again the morning after the fifth night. By night six, the lavender group's overall sleep score was meaningfully higher than the saline group's (70.80 vs. 59.16 out of 100, p = 0.001 — lavender users reported deeper, less interrupted sleep), with clear advantages in sleep depth, time to fall asleep, and number of awakenings. Fatigue told the same story in reverse: the lavender group's fatigue score dropped to 4.54 versus 5.51 in the control group (p = 0.001, lower is better), with the steepest improvements in the subscales measuring fatigue's effect on daily activities, physical sensations, and mental clarity. A statistical model combining lavender use and sleep score explained about 17% of the variation in how fatigued patients felt (R² = 0.171, p < 0.001) — a modest but real share, meaning sleep and scent worked together rather than independently. One subscale, emotional response to fatigue, improved but didn't quite reach statistical significance (p = 0.052). For hematology-oncology nurses, this points to an inexpensive, side-effect-free option — no adverse events were reported — that can be added to nightly care without special training or equipment. The trial only tracked five nights, so whether the benefit holds up over a full chemotherapy course is unknown, and the researchers grouped all blood cancer types together rather than testing whether effects differ by diagnosis. Larger, longer trials are needed before lavender aromatherapy becomes a standard recommendation rather than a promising adjunct.

Key findings

• In a five-night trial with 100 hospitalized patients receiving chemotherapy for blood cancers (such as leukemia and lymphoma), inhaling lavender essential oil from a bedside sponge significantly improved both sleep quality and fatigue compared to inhaling plain saline solution.
• Sleep quality, measured with the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (a validated scale scoring how deep and uninterrupted a night's sleep felt, 0-100), rose to a significantly higher score in the lavender group after five nights than in the control group (70.80 vs. 59.16, p = 0.001).
• Fatigue, measured with the Piper Fatigue Scale (a 22-item tool covering behavioral, emotional, sensory, and cognitive aspects of tiredness), dropped significantly more in the lavender group than the control group (p = 0.001), with the strongest improvements in daily-activity impact, physical sensations, and mental clarity.
• A statistical model showed that lavender aromatherapy combined with better sleep quality explained about 17% of the difference in how fatigued patients felt, suggesting the two benefits reinforce each other rather than acting alone.
• No side effects or adverse events from the lavender oil were reported, supporting its use as a low-cost, nurse-administered addition to standard chemotherapy care — though the study only tracked five nights, so longer-term effects remain unknown.

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