Comparative study of the effectiveness of serai wangi (local product) and lavender (international product) in reducing stress among nursing students: a randomized controlled trial / Anassuha Misran, Azreen Shahbra Shamsu Adli, Syazwan Firdaus Abu Bakar

Aromatherapy, therapeutic use of inhaled essential oils, is a popular stress-reducing approach due to low side effects. This study was carried out about aromatherapy and its effectiveness in reducing stress among nursing students in UiTM Puncak Alam. We are also introducing our local product, which is Serai Wangi (Cymbopogonnardus) as an essential oil. This study also reviews on the effectiveness of our local product, which is Serai Wangi aromatherapy to be compared with established aromatherapy, which is Lavender. This study used Randomized Controlled Trial, which involves nursing students in UiTM Puncak Alam. By using this design, we recruited three groups of participants where they were treated as one intervention group who received Serai Wangi as aromatherapy meanwhile the other two controlled groups received Lavender aromatherapy and plain water. The study held for two weeks and the duration of intervention is 8 hours, which is from 10pm until 6am. Result shows that stress level reduced significantly by using local aromatherapy, which is Serai Wangi, compared to the international aromatherapy, which is Lavender. Meanwhile, there is no significant reduction in stress level when we used plain water as a placebo. As conclusion, Serai Wangi has the same ability as Lavender and is potentially marketable.