The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Nursing Students (Therapy)

The Effect of Laughter Therapy on the General Health Status, Sleep Quality, and Stress Level of Nursing Students

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sleep Disorder; Insomnia; Mental Health Disorder; Mental Stress
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Laughter Therapy

Detailed 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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 70
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Mugla, Turkey
    • Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 23 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Laughter Therapy Group; 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.	Behavioral: Laughter Therapy; The effect of the Laughter Therapy on nursing students
No Intervention: Control Group; 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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Introductory Information Form	It was prepared by the researchers in line with the literature in order to collect data about the individual characteristics of the participants. Form; family structure, gender, income status, marital status, health status, age, etc. It consists of 13 items (pretest-posttest design was applied).	2 minutes
General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28)	It was prepared to detect mental health problems. Individuals who score below 5 on the scale are evaluated as "normal", while individuals who score 5 and above are considered as a "risk group" in terms of mental health (pretest-posttest design was applied).	5 minutes
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PUKI)	"Poor sleep quality" is expressed for individuals who score 5 and above from the scale. The scale consists of 24 items that evaluate sleep quality and disorders by scoring over a one-month period (pretest-posttest design was applied).	5 minutes
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)	The scale, which was prepared to evaluate the perceived stress level of the individual, consists of 14 items. High scores obtained from the scale indicate that the person has a high perception of stress(pretest-posttest design was applied).	3 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Elif Uner, Dr, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): June 17, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 11, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 27, 2022
• First Posted (Estimate): January 11, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 11, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 27, 2022
• Last Verified: December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sleep Quality; Nursing Students; General Health; Psychological Stress; Laughter Therapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Disease; Sleep Wake Disorders; Stress, Psychological; Mental Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 739904

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No