The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Laughter Therapy on Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization

Necmettin Erbakan University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Infertility, Female

Treatments: Behavioral: Progressive muscle relaxation+laughter therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04782882

NecmettinEU_Kiyak1

Details and patient eligibility

About

Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation exercises and laughter therapy on the mental health and treatment outcomes of women receiving IVF treatment.

Design: Randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (IG; n = 71) and control group (CG; n = 70). The progressive muscle relaxation and laughter therapy was administered to women in the intervention group in the IVF center for 3-4 times and 40 minutes. The CG received routine care. Data were collected using baseline and oocyte retrieval day STAI and BDI.

Full description

Infertility, one of the important components of reproductive health, affects one in four couples in developing countries.The emergence of assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) gives infertile couples the opportunity to have both pregnancy and a baby. Couples are affected emotionally during IVF treatment and women experience more problems than men. The majority of women experience emotional problems such as anxiety and depression because of infertility, invasive treatment procedures, physiological effects of gonadotropin stimulation and positive outcome expectation.Considering the effect of anxiety and depression on infertile women, it is important to examine the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation exercises and laughter therapy as complementary therapy in psychosocial care.

Enrollment: 141 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 20 to 46 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Women between the ages of 20 and 46,
• Literate in Turkish language,
• Diagnosed with infertility by an obstetrician or medical doctor
• Those with primary or secondary infertility

Exclusion criteria

• A diagnosed psychiatric disorder,
• prior experience in relaxation intervention,
• Lack of ovarian response in previous treatments
• Undergoing frozen embryo transfer.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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141 participants in 2 patient groups

intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

In the first session of the researcher (S.K.), the participants were explained the effects of anxiety and stress on the treatment in simple terms for 5 min. Then, information was given about the effects of laughter therapy and progressive muscle relaxation on the body. Laughter therapy was applied for 15-20 min. Then, the lights were turned off and progressive muscle relaxation exercises were performed for 15-20 min under candlelight and accompanied by music. The procedures were received as a group (2-6 people) in 3-4 face-to-face sessions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Progressive muscle relaxation+laughter therapy

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group then received routine care