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Chinese Herbal Sachet Inhalation for Primary Dysmenorrhea in Female College Students

NCT07778849 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 82

Last updated 2026-08-21

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Primary dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods without an underlying disease) is very common in female college students and can affect sleep, mood, study and daily life. This study tested whether sleeping next to a traditional Chinese herbal sachet - a small cloth bag containing a standardized blend of 13 aromatic herbal materials chosen by an expert consensus (Delphi) process - reduces menstrual pain and menstrual symptoms, and improves anxiety and depression, compared with an identical-looking placebo sachet. Eighty-two female students at Sichuan Nursing Vocational College with primary dysmenorrhea were randomly assigned to the herbal sachet or the placebo sachet. Participants placed the sachet within about 30 cm of the head every night during sleep for 9 weeks, with a fresh sachet every 3 weeks; both groups received the same health education. Pain (visual analogue scale), menstrual symptoms (Cox Menstrual Symptom Scale), anxiety (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale) and depression (Self-Rating Depression Scale) were measured before and within one week after the 9-week intervention. Participants did not know which sachet they received.

Conditions

  • Primary Dysmenorrhea

Interventions

OTHER

Traditional Chinese herbal sachet (aromatic inhalation)

Approximately 95-105 g powdered blend of Angelica dahurica (Bai Zhi), Syzygium aromaticum (Ding Xiang), Artemisia argyi (Ai Ye), Foeniculum vulgare (Xiao Hui Xiang), Kaempferia galanga (Shan Nai), Cinnamomum cassia (Rou Gui), Angelica sinensis (Dang Gui), Ligusticum chuanxiong (Chuan Xiong), Cyperus rotundus (Xiang Fu), Aucklandia lappa (Mu Xiang), Rosa rugosa (Mei Gui Hua), Osmanthus fragrans (Gui Hua) and Liquidambar orientalis (Su He Xiang) in a sealed non-woven bag inside a mesh pouch, hung at the bedside within 30 cm of the nose from about 23:00 to 07:00 every night for 9 weeks; replaced every 3 weeks.

OTHER

Placebo sachets

Sachet of the same size, colour and weight containing whole-wheat flour, lily powder, chrysanthemum powder and orange-peel powder, used identically to the herbal sachet.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Sichuan Nursing Vocational College

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Macao Polytechnic University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Cindy Sin U LEONG, DHSc, RN · Macao Polytechnic University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
25 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-11-01
Primary Completion
2024-03-31
Completion
2024-03-31

Countries

  • China

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07778849 on ClinicalTrials.gov