The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Sleep in the Community-dwelling Elderly.

Jung, Hyun Wook; Youn, Chang Ho; Cho, Nu Ri; Lee, Mi Kyung; Lee, Jung Bum

doi:2009.30.7.511

Korean J Fam Med > Volume 30(7); 2009 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Family Medicine 2009;30(7):511-518.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.2009.30.7.511 Published online July 20, 2009.

The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Sleep in the Community-dwelling Elderly.

Hyun Wook Jung, Chang Ho Youn, Nu Ri Cho, Mi Kyung Lee, Jung Bum Lee

Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea. ychfm@knu.ac.kr

지역사회 노인에서 웃음 치료가 수면에 미치는 영향

정현욱, 윤창호, 조누리, 이미경, 이정범

경북대학교 의과대학 가정의학교실

Abstract

Background
Aging process causes several changes in the typical sleep patterns. Elderly people complain frequently about sleep duration, changes of sleep/wake rhythm and day time sleepiness. This study was performed to evaluate improvement of sleep quality after laughter therapy. Methods: On July 2007, the study participants aged over 65 were recruited through a community center in Daegu. There were 48 subjects in the experimental group and 61 in the control group. The laughter therapy program was applied to the experimental group. We compared Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after laughter therapy. Data were analyzed by independent t-test, chi-square test, paired t-test, and ANCOVA using SPSS windows ver. 14.0. Results: At initial study, there were no signifi cant differences in baseline characteristics. The ISI scores were 8.00 ± 6.29 and 8.36 ± 6.38; the PSQI scores were 6.98 ± 3.41 and 7.38 ± 3.70; The Geriatric Depression Seals (GDS) scores were 7.98 ± 3.58 and 8.08 ± 3.95 in experimental and control groups, respectively. After laughter therapy, the ISI scores were 7.58 ± 5.38 (P = 0.327) and 9.31 ± 6.35 (P = 0.019), PSQI scores were 6.04 ± 2.35 (P = 0.019) and 7.30 ± 3.74 (P = 0.847), GDS scores were 6.94 ± 3.19 (P = 0.027), 8.43 ± 3.44 (P = 0.422) in experimental and control groups, respectively. Conclusion: The laughter therapy is considered to be useful for the elderly people in a community that improves insomnia and sleep quality.

Key Words: Laughter Therapy; Insomnia; Sleep Quality