Jurnal Kebidanan dan Keperawatan Aisyiyah e-ISSN 2477-8184 Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023), pp. (51-62) p-ISSN 1858-0610 10.31101/jkk.3077 This is an open-access article under the CC–BY-SA license 51 Slow stroke back massage (SSBM) therapy with lavender essential oil effectively lowers blood pressure Iwan Sulis Setiawan * , Tri Ismu Pujiyanto, Yunani, Eko Winarto Master of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Karya Husada University Semarang, Jl. R. Soekanto No.46, Sambiroto, Tembalang, Semarang City, Central Java, 50276, Indonesia Iwan.three898@gmail.com Submitted: April 12, 2023 Revised: May 9, 2023 Accepted: June 14, 2023 Abstract Hypertension is a global health problem that is a major factor causing cardiovascular disease and premature death. While pharmacological therapy is still the main choice, non-pharmacological therapies with minimal side effects, such as a combination of slow-stroke back massage (SSBM) and aromatherapy, are expected to increase relaxation to increase the effectiveness of lowering blood pressure in hypertensive patients. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of SSBM therapy with lavender essential oil in lowering blood pressure in patients with primary hypertension. The research used a quasi-experiment method with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. In this study, the samples used were hospitalized patients with primary hypertension who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, with as many as 40 respondents using purposive sampling techniques. Slow stroke back massage (SSBM) therapy with lavender essential oil significantly lowers blood pressure values in primary hypertensive patients compared to SSBM therapy with baby oil (P value 0.05). The mean difference in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the intervention and control groups was 6.25 and 2.65, respectively. This therapy has been proven effective in lowering blood pressure in primary hypertensive patients. Therefore, hospital management may consider applying this nonpharmacological therapy to manage primary hypertension patients. Keywords: blood pressure; essential lavender; primary hypertension; slow stroke back massage 1. Introduction Hypertension globally affects more than 1.28 billion people aged 30-79 (WHO, 2023) and is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death (Roth et al., 2018; Stanaway et al., 2018). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 46% of adults suffering from hypertension are unaware that they have the disease (WHO, 2023), While the prevalence of hypertension in Indonesia itself reaches 34.1% (Kementerian Kesehatan RI, 2019). This is because hypertension often appears without symptoms, so patients are not aware of their condition and only find out after complications appear. Therefore, hypertension is known as "the silent killer". Hypertension increases mortality and morbidity (Martín-Fernández et al., 2023). Many long-term high blood pressure patients can experience hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD). HMOD describes changes in blood vessels or ends organs (eyes, heart, kidneys, brain, and blood vessels) both in structure and function (Kyada et al., 2018). Initially, they did not show any symptoms, such as microalbuminuria, dystolic dysfunction, coronary calcification, and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (Kyada et al., 2018; Oh et al., 2020; Suvila et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2022), where these symptoms are usually clinical markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The results of Kyada et al. (2018) showed that patients with end-organ damage experienced CV complications (54.6%), increased creatinine (25.9%), cerebrovascular accident complications (CVA = 19.4%), increased proteinuria (18.51%), and hypertensive retinopathy (15.7%). Hypertension is a major contributor to CVD, such as ischemic heart disease, hemorrhagic stroke, and ischemic stroke (Forouzanfar et al., 2017; Rapsomaniki et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2018). Cardiovascular disease is also a major cause of increased mortality associated with hypertension