The comparative effect of inhaling kaffir lime oil and rosemary oil on autonomic nervous system and driver test game

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare the effects of kaffir lime oil and rosemary oil inhaling on the autonomic nervous system and ability in driving simulation game.

The sample included 60 students of Kanchanabhishek institute of medical and public health technology. The samples were randomly separated into three groups (20 participants per group): rosemary oil group, kaffir lime oil and almond oil group. All participants inhaled the respective substance for 20 minutes. The collecting data instrument consisted of questionnaire on personal information, autonomic nervous system recording form and driving game score recording form. Pair-sampled t-test was applied to compare the changes before and after inhaling by using one-way ANOVA statistics.

It was found that kaffir lime oil and rosemary oil inhaling significantly (p < .05) affected autonomic nervous system including blood pressure, heart rate and ability in driving simulation game. However, almond oil inhalation had no effect the function of the autonomic nervous system and driving simulation game scores. Rosemary oil inhalation and kaffir lime oil inhalation groups differed from the almond oil group whereas, there was no significant difference between rosemary oil inhalation and kaffir lime oil inhalation (p < .05).

The results indicate that both rosemary oil and kaffir lime oil have a sudden effect on autonomic nervous system and score of driving simulation game. The use of kaffir lime oil can be an alternative to stimulate the autonomic nervous system and substitute to rosemary oil.