• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of laughter therapy on arthralgia, ankylosis, depression and sleep of elderly housebound women suffering from osteoarthritis. Methods: The study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 48 elderly women: 23 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The experimental group received laughter therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. The results were analyzed by using $X^2$-test, ANCOVA, and t-test with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Results: The results showed that laughter therapy had a significant statistical effective in reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression and improving the quality of sleep as evidenced by the differences between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that laughter therapy is an effective nursing intervention reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression and improving the quality of sleep in these women. Therefore, it is necessary to develop laughter therapy as an independent nursing intervention for elderly women with osteoarthritis who are housebound.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.289-297
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of laughter therapy program on stress and depression in nursing college students. The design of this study is nonequivalent control group, quasi-experimental study. Data were collected from December 5, 2014, to January 9, 2015, with 75 nursing sophomores (40 in experimental group and 35 in control group) in Chungnam and Jeonbuk Province in Korea, using self-reported questionnaires. The experimental group participated in laughter therapy program four times, once a week for 120min per session. The data were collected prior and after the intervention using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using t-test and $X^2-test$. The results of the study showed that the levels of stress (t=-2.32, p=0.02) and depression (t=-4.87, p<0.001) were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. Based on the results, the laughter therapy program may be recommended as an useful intervention to effectively reduce the levels of stress and depression in nursing college students and anticipated to be developed and published continuously.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.37-49
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• 2015

This study is to suggest the needs of laughter recreation convergence education as educational program to promote leisure use and happiness with the expectation that laughter recreation education will generate positive effect positive attitude and psychological happiness. So we prove that this education contributes to one's happy life through this study since it arouses positive changes on behavior. We included 108 Sampling targets and 216 copies of questionnaires to be done before and after education. As a result, partial factors of positive attitude on laughter recreation convergence education had a good influence on psychological happiness and there were differences between before and after the education. So this proves that it is meaningful to have laughter recreation convergence education.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.211-222
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was done to identify the effects of Laughter therapy on recovery status from facial paralysis, pain, and stress in Bell's palsy patients. Methods: This research was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized pre-posttest quasi-experimental research design. Data were collected from August 8, to October 15, 2013 at D university Oriental Medical Center in B city. Participants were 60 patients with Bell's palsy who were assigned to one of two groups: an experimental group of 30 patients and a control group of 30 patients. t-test, $x^2-test$, Fisher's exact test and Welth-Aspin test were used to test the homogeneity between the two groups and t-test, Welth-Aspin test and ANCOVA were used to test the research hypotheses. SPSS program was used for statistical analysis. Results: There were significant increases in recovery status from facial paralysis and decreases in stress after Laughter therapy in the experimental group. Conclusion: The results indicate that Laughter therapy is effective in facilitating recovery status from facial paralysis and decreasing stress. Therefore, Laughter therapy can be used as an effective nursing intervention for patients with facial paralysis and to relieve stress in these patients.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.248-256
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• 2012

Purpose: This study examines the difference of optimism, self-esteem and depression to verify an effect of laughter therapy program for menopausal women. Methods: A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pre / post-test design was used. The participants (n=57) were 28 in the experimental group and 29 in the control group. The data were collected in December of 2011. The experimental group participated in laughter therapy for 30 min per session, five times a week for the period of 2 weeks. The questionnaires were used to measure pre / post-test optimism, self-esteem, and depression of menopausal women. Results: The results showed that laughter therapy was effective in increasing optimism (p= .020) and self-esteem (p<.001). And the depression of menopausal women decreased (p= .003). Conclusion: The result of the study indicates that laughter therapy for menopausal women may be an effective nursing intervention to improve optimism, self-esteem and depression of menopausal women.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.68-78
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the effects of Tai-Chi exercise and self-help management program applying laughter therapy in patients with osteoarthritis. Methods: This quasi-experimental study recruited a sample of 61 patients with osteoarthritis (experimental group: 30, control group: 31) through the community healthcare centers located in Seoul and Kyung Gi area. The primary outcome measures included symptoms of osteoarthritis, basic physical performance, fatigue, and depression assessed before and after the study. The data were analyzed using SPSSWIN V. 12.0. Results: At the end of the six-week intervention, left shoulder flexibility (t=2.011, p=.049), 6m walking speed (t=3.639, p=.001), and right balance (t=-2.30, p=.025) were significantly improved in the control group. Fatigue (t=3.012, p=.004), stiffness (t=2,093, p=.041), right shoulder flexibility (t=2.138, p=.037), right balance (t=-2.065, p=.043), and 6m walking speed (t=2.683, p=.009) were significantly improved in the experimental group. Conclusion: A twice a week, 6-week tai-chi exercise self-help management program applying laughter therapy is effective in decreasing fatigue and stiffness. Osteoarthritis is one of common chronic diseases that the patients should be required to continue self management for the rest of their life. Therefore, there is a need to develop the more effective self-help management program and nursing intervention to motivate them to maintain their own self-help management.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.101-114
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• 2015

Objectives: Find out how it affects anxiety situations and self-esteem targeting the critical period of development of self-esteem in the lower grades in elementary school based on laughter therapy in having a positive influence on physical health promotion and positive emotional cultivation. And to verify the effects of laughter activity was to provide preliminary data on mental health education and guidance of school life. Methods: By targeting Ulsan Y elementary school, second grade 7 class, 191 students conducted test self-esteem and anxiety. Homogeneous group of experimental and control groups were selected in each one class. Classified as experimental group carried out laughter activity programs and control group did not carried out. Also the separation of the application program before and after, then it were performed preliminary-post-further as same checklist. Program coverage period is 12 weeks and 30 minutes per session was conducted twice a week. Differences between the experimental group and the comparison group has conducted the independent samples t-test, and if the difference between the experimental group and the comparison group were verified by performing a variance analysis(Oneway ANOVA) and post multiple comparisons. Results: Analysis of the experimental group decreased anxiety in the post-test than the pre-test as a whole, in particular, sub-areas of concern, shame and shyness was shown to be effective, and decision of the difficulty was not significant by insignificant reduction. In addition, self-esteem was increased in overall score. The score of collective self-esteem and School life self-esteem were more increased, and domestic self-esteem was not significant by slight increases. In contrast, the comparison group showed no significant difference in all areas of anxiety and self-esteem of pre-test and post-test. Conclusions: In experiments on self-esteem and anxiety of lower grade in elementary school through laughter activity program, comparison group it did not show an effect by accident, and experimental group showed meaningful effects that self-esteem was increased and anxiety was reduced. Thus, laughter activity can be seen that improving self-esteem, anxiety reduction and etc, is very beneficial to mental health.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of laughter therapy programs on middle school students' happiness, self-esteem and school life adaptation. Methods: In total, 60 students (Experimental group= 30. Control group=30) were recruited to answer a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of questions about general characteristics, happiness, self-esteem and school life adaptation. The experimental group participated in a 45-minute laughter therapy program once a week for eight weeks, while the control group did not. Results: The scores of happiness(t=-4.68, p<.001), self-esteem(t=-3.38, p=.001), and school life adaptation(t=-3.76, p<.001) in the experimental group got significantly higher than the control group. Conclusion: Based on this study results, laughter therapy programs should be applied to improve happiness, self-esteem, and school life adaptation of middle school students.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1810-1819
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• 2013

This study is a nonequivalent-comparison-group-quasiexperimental-study which tries to establish the effect of a laughter therapy program on the blood pressure, depression, and the life quality of elderly women in rural area. The subjects are 49 females aged 65 living in S-myeon, 24 and the other 25 of whom are put into an experimental group and a comparison group, respectively. The laughter therapy was performed to the experimental group for 60 minutes a time, twice a week for 13 weeks, from January 5 to April 5 in 2011. To find out the intervention effect, the program was analyzed by a t-test. The result showed that the therapy lowers the systolic blood pressure, relieves depression, and enhances the life quality of them. Therefore, it is expected that the therapy, a useful program contributing to the health improvement of elderly women, can be made use of nursing intervention in clinical trials or communities.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.72-80
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of subjective xerostomia and salivary pH in salivary glands stimulated by laughter therapy in frail elderly women. Methods: The research used a one-group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected from July 2, 2015 to September 30, 2015. A sample of 41 frail female elderly patients was recruited at A Nursing Home in K City, Korea. We measured xerostomia and salivary pH using a questionnaire and BCP test paper (pH 5.6~7.2). Laughter therapy was given once a week for four weeks (3 items). Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, paired t-test and Cronbach's using the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: There were significant differences in salivary pH according to oral health (t=-2.06, p<.05). There were significant differences in xerostomia (t=4.41, p<.001) and salivary pH (t=-7.94, p<.001) after salivary glands stimulated by laughter therapy. Conclusion: Salivary glands stimulated by laughter therapy improved xerostomia and salivary pH of the frail elderly. Therefore, salivary glands stimulated by laughter therapy may be useful in promoting and maintaining oral health among the frail elderly in the rapidly increasing population of old people.