Prescribing Laughter for Sleep and Wellbeing in UAE University Students

Zayed University

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Mental Health Wellness; Sleep

Treatments: Device: Sleep tracking equipment; Other: Laughie laughter prescription

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04171245

ZU19_064_F

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is in line with the UAEs national drive to promote happiness and wellbeing. University students risk impaired psychological health, wellbeing, and sleep due to academic pressures. This research is the first to assess the feasibility of using a laughter prescription to improve psychological health and sleep in Zayed University students. Forty students will be recruited, and randomized to a control or laughter group.

Full description

The Laughie is a self created app or tool. It is a one minute recording of the user's joyful laughter on their smartphone. Once recorded, the user uses it by playing back the recording and laughing with it for the duration of the one minute. The Laughie acts as a prompt to guide the one minute of laughter.

In this research the experimental group each record their own Laughie, demonstrated and supported by the PI(s). They are then prescribed to laugh with their Laughie: 3x a day the first week (morning, lunch, and afternoon) and at least 2x a day during the second week. Immediately after using their Laughie they fill in a Laughie checklist to record whether they laughed for the full minute, whether they enjoyed their Laughie, and how they felt afterwards.

This study tracks sleep using wrist actigraphy in the control group (no Laughie prescription) and in the Laughie group. All participants complete one week baseline using sleep watches, and sleep diaries, prior to the Laughie intervention. They all then continue to track their sleep during the intervention. All participants complete WHO Five well-being, PSKI, and HADS pre and post intervention. During the intervention the Laughie participants complete Laughie checklists. All participants are invited for a final interview (the control group about the sleep equipment experience). A follow-up survey is sent to the Laughie group 2 months after their prescription.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria: Registered Zayed University students, owner of a smartphone -

Exclusion Criteria: Chronic health conditions (cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes), deafness, non-English speakers

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

40 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental

Experimental group

Description:

One minute laughter prescription 3x a day Tracking sleep using equipment

Treatment:

Other: Laughie laughter prescription

Device: Sleep tracking equipment

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Tracking sleep using equipment

Treatment:

Device: Sleep tracking equipment