Effects of aromatherapy on the pain-anxiety-sleep disturbance symptom cluster in breast cancer patients a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of aromatherapy on the pain-anxiety-sleep disturbance symptom cluster in breast cancer patients.

METHOD: Randomized Controlled Trials were searched in CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library before August 2026. The screening of literature and data extraction were independently completed by two researchers, and the ROB 2 was used to evaluate the risk of bias. A narrative method was used to synthesize the outcomes. This systematic review has been registered (PROSPERO: CRD420251132362).

RESULT: 10 articles were included. 7 studies assessed at least two symptoms within the pain-anxiety-sleep disturbance symptom cluster. Effective part of the intervention including the interventions length within 4 weeks, the optimal timing for intervention were in the evening, The intervention time should be limited within 20-30 min.

CONCLUSIONS

Aromatherapy may be a potential adjunctive therapy for alleviating the pain-anxiety-sleep disturbance symptom cluster in breast cancer patients across different treatment phases. But higher-quality studies with rigorous designs and standardized reporting are needed before clinical implementation can be recommended.