Ecological momentary assessment combined with aromatherapy on postoperative depression in elderly patients with colostomy

Table 3 Comparison of depression status, mean ± SD

Group	HAMD score
	1-day intervention	3-day intervention	5-day intervention	7-day intervention
Control group (n= 50)	31.18 ± 3.12	28.30 ± 3.28	26.80 ± 3.11	23.80 ± 3.69
Observation group (n= 50)	29.14 ± 3.18a	24.36 ± 4.34a	21.02 ± 3.09a	17.96 ± 3.88a
Between groups	F =178.561; P < 0.001
Time	F =122.104; P < 0.001
Between groups·time1	F =6.456; P < 0.001

¹This table compares the continuous variable (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score) of the two groups of patients at different intervention time points by repeated-measures ANOVA. The results show that there are statistically significant differences in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores between the groups, across different time points, and in the interaction between group and time (all P < 0.001).

^aP < 0.05.

HAMD: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.