The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Nursing Students

Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mental Stress; Mental Health Disorder; Sleep Disorder; Insomnia

Treatments: Behavioral: Laughter Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05681013

739904

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of laughter therapy on the general health status, sleep quality, and stress level of nursing students.

Full description

H1.1: Students who receive laughter therapy will have lower mean scores in the general health questionnaire than students who do not receive laughter therapy.

H1.2: Students who receive laughter therapy will have a lower Pittsburgh sleep quality index score than students who do not receive laughter therapy.

H1.3: Students who receive laughter therapy will have a lower mean stress level than students who do not receive laughter therapy.

Enrollment: 70 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 23 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Volunteering to participate in research
• Being a 1st or 2nd-year student in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing
• Not have any health problems that may create a communication barrier
• Being in a quiet environment to participate in the online study due to the pandemic period
• Have an internet connection to attend online sessions

Exclusion criteria

• Having undergone abdominal surgery in the past three months
• Having a disability to attend regular sessions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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70 participants in 2 patient groups

Laughter Therapy Group

Experimental group

Description:

A pre-test was administered to all students. In the pre-test application, the Descriptive Information Form, General Health Questionnaire-28, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Perceived Stress Scale were applied. Experimental and control groups were formed randomly among the students who filled all the scales. Communication groups were established for the students in both groups without being told which group they belonged to. Considering the hours suitable for the experimental group, 8 sessions of laughter therapy were applied for an average of 45 minutes. At the end of the therapy in the last session, a post-test was administered to all of the students. In the post-test application, the Descriptive Information Form, General Health Questionnaire-28, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Perceived Stress Scale were applied.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Laughter Therapy

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

In the pre-test application, the Descriptive Information Form, General Health Questionnaire-28, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Perceived Stress Scale were applied. At the end of the therapy in the last session, a post-test was administered to all students. In the post-test application, the Descriptive Information Form, General Health Questionnaire-28, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Perceived Stress Scale were applied.