Aromatherapy protocol (Systematic review of evidence on the clinical effectiveness of aromatherapy: a protocol)

In November 2020 Cochrane Australia was contracted by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to design and undertake the systematic review described in this protocol. This systematic review is one of several independent contracted evidence evaluations being undertaken to update the evidence underpinning the 2015 Review of the Australian Government Rebate on Natural Therapies for Private Health Insurance (2015 Review) by the Department of Health (Department). The design and conduct of the review will be done in collaboration with the Office of NHMRC (ONHMRC), the NHMRC’s Natural Therapies Working Committee (the Committee) and Department’s Natural Therapies Review Expert Advisory Panel (NTREAP).

The review has been prospectively registered on the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO ID CRD42021268244) after undergoing independent methodological review. Any changes to the protocol (including methods not used) will be documented when reporting the methods of the completed review.

The protocol has also been published at: Brennan, S.E., McDonald, S., Murano, M. et al. Effectiveness of aromatherapy for prevention or treatment of disease, medical or preclinical conditions, and injury: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Syst Rev 11, 148 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-02015-1