• 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.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.298-310
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the laughter therapy program on perceived stress and psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune responses in obese women. Methods: A nonequivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design was used. The participants (n=60), whose age ranged from 30 to 50 years (pre-menopausal and body mass index of over $25kg/m^2$), were assigned to the experimental group (n=24) or control group (n=26). The experimental group was provided with the laughter therapy program (12 sessions) for 6 weeks. Results: There were significant differences in perceived stress, psychological stress response, fasting blood sugar, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha between the two groups after the program. However, there were no significant differences in normalized low frequency (norm LF), normalized high frequency (norm HF), LF/HF ratio, and cortisol between the two groups after the program. Conclusion: It was found that the laughter therapy program had positive effects on some variables in terms of perceived stress and psycho-neuro-endocrine-immuno responses. It is suggested that the laughter therapy in this study can provide the direction for developing a program for obese women.

• 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.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of laughter therapy on mood, state anxiety, and serum cortisol based on a Stress-Coping Model for preoperative breast cancer patients. Methods: The study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 40 breast cancer patients who were admitted to one general hospital for surgery in 2009 (experimental group 23, control group 17). The experimental group received one hour laughter therapy consisting of dance, lots of laughter techniques, and meditation. Results: The mean ages were 47 years (experimental group) and 49 years (control group). There were no significant differences in demographic and disease-related characteristics between the two groups. After the intervention, the scores of mood and state-anxiety of experimental group were significantly improved than those of control group. However, no difference was found in serum cortisol. Conclusion: The laughter therapy was partially effective in improving stress response in patients with breast cancer. Further research is needed to develop and evaluate the longer periods of interventions to testify the effects on serum cortisol, and other biochemical variables.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was aimed at constructing and examining the effects of a laughter therapy program for elderly patients in long-term care hospitals. Methods: A prospective, two-group quasi-experimental design was used and 50 patients (25 experimental and 25 control group patients) from two long-term care hospitals in Gyeonggido province, South Korea, were study participants. The experimental group received 24 laughter therapy sessions twice a week for 12 weeks, and the control group received laughter therapy after data collection. Data were collected between May 26 and August 17, 2014. Results: The level of cognitive function for the experimental group increased(t=3.27, p=.002). The level of forced vital capacity (t=2.78, p=.008) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (t=4.94, p<.001) increased among members of the experimental group. Conclusion: These results indicated that the laughter program was effective in improving cognitive and pulmonary functions among older patients who were receiving long-term care in hospitals. This program could be used for community-based elderly patients.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.105-114
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to apply laughter therapy to clinical practice and investigate its effects on patients' anxiety and depression in order to increase the quality of nursing for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods: The study was conducted based on the non-equivalent control group pretestposttest design. The participants include 20 patients with IBD in the control group and 17 in the experiment group. Data was collected from July 10th, 2011 to January 22nd, 2012. Laughter therapy was administered once a day for five consecutive days. Results: The anxiety score was significantly different between the two groups and indicates that laughter therapy is effective for reducing anxiety among patients with IBD. Futhermore, there were differences in the depression scores of the experiment group between the pre-test and post-test, but no significant differences were found between the two groups. Conclusion: The results show that laughter therapy was effective in reducing anxiety among patients with IBD but did not decrease depression directly. Considering that the experiment group had a bigger reduction rate in depression scores than the control group. However, it is expected that laughter therapy will serve as an emotional nursing intervention for patients with IBD.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of laughter therapy and cognitive reinforcement program on self-efficacy, depression and cognitive functions of the elderly with mild cognitive impairments (MCI). Methods: The study design was a non-equivalent control group pre and posttest design. Thirty-six subjects over the age of 65 with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment were assigned either to a treatment or a comparison group. Data were collected from February 7 to March 27, 2012 in the dementia supporting center. An eight week treatment program that included laughter therapy coupled with a cognitive reinforcing program including hand exercise, laughter dance routine, laughter technic and cognitive training for attention, memory, orientation and execution skill. Results: MoCA-K (t=-6.86, p<.001) and Stroop test CW correct (t=-2.54, p=.008), self-efficacy (t=-3.62, p=.001) in the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the comparison group. Reported depression (t=2.29, p=.014), Stroop test CW error (U=53.50, p<.001) in the treatment group was significantly less than the comparison group. Conclusion: In this study, the treatment was effective in improving self-efficacy, cognitive function and reducing depression in the elderly with MCI.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.188-198
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of laughter therapy on depression, anxiety, fatigue, and quality of sleep in gastrointestinal cancer survivors. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. We compared the effect of laughter therapy with usual care only in post chemotherapy gastrointestinal patients. Outcomes included changes in depression and anxiety (according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), fatigue (according to the Fatigue Severity Scale), and quality of sleep (according to the Verran & Synder-Halpern Sleep Scale). Data was collected July 2015 through January 2016. Seventy nine participants who agreed to participate in this study were randomized to either the experimental group (n= 40) or the control group (n= 39). Therapy included eight sessions (60 minutes each, once weekly). Data were analyzed using the Windows SPSS 22.0 program. Results: Laughter therapy was effective in reducing fatigue (p= .019) and increasing satisfaction of sleep (p= .030). There were no differences between the groups after therapy for depression (p= .129) and anxiety (p= .200). Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that laughter therapy may be an effective nursing intervention for improving the health status of gastrointestinal cancer survivors after chemotherapy.

• 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 Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.83-93
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• 2010

Purpose: This study identified effects of laughter therapy administered to mastectomy patients as an adaptive coping mechanism. Methods: The study design was a non-synchronized design with a non-equivalent control group. Participants were 40 patients admitted to S hospital in Busan from July 1 to October 10, 2008. The laughter therapy was provided to the experimental group for 20 minutes, four times per week for 2 weeks in each patient's room. Results: The experimental and control groups showed significant differences in Mood (t=-2.314, p=.032), and Stress (t=-2.535 p=.020). Pain and serum cortisol in the experimental and control groups did not show any significant difference. Conclusion: Based on the findings the laughter therapy has significant effects on mastectomy patients' mood and stress.