Reducing Stress Levels in the Elderly through a Combination Intervention of Exercise and Lavender Aromatherapy

Abstract

This study aims to examine the level of effectiveness of the combination of elderly exercise and lavender aromatherapy on stress levels in the elderly. This study was conducted in the Sasanawaluyo Purwodadi, Purworejo gymnastics group from January 4 to January 23, 2025. This study was a quasi-experimental study with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The population in this study was the Sasanawaluyo gymnastics group in Purwodadi, Purworejo. The sample in this study was 15 women with an age range of 60-90 years. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling. Respondents received a combination of elderly exercise and lavender aromatherapy for 3 weeks with 9 meetings. Stress levels were measured before and after treatment using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-42 (DASS-42) instrument. Data analysis techniques involved prerequisite tests and hypothesis tests. The results indicate that the provision of a combination of elderly gymnastics and lavender aromatherapy treatment in the elderly in the Sasanawaluyo Purwodadi, Purworejo gymnastics group results in a significant decrease in stress levels. This is evidenced by the results of the DASS-42 questionnaire. The average sample stress score decreases from 20.07 in the pretest to 14.4 in the posttest, with a total difference of 5.67. The significance value in the pretest-posttest = 0.000 (<0.05) with an effectiveness level of 29.6%.