The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Severity and Sites of Pain Among the Elderly

The prevalence of pain in nursing home residents is 72%, which causes loneliness, depression and disability. Medication in the elderly is not recommended because of its risks. Laughter therapy is one of the complementary therapies that uses the distraction technique. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of laughter therapy on the severity and pain areas of the elderly.

The present clinical trial study was conducted on 55 elderly people in two similar nursing homes in Mashhad in 2016. Sampling was done according to inclusion criteria and random allocation in two intervention groups (28). (N = 27) and control (n = 27). Pain severity was measured by a modified German Short Pain Questionnaire before and after the first and six sessions, and pain areas were measured before the first session and after the sixth session of laughter therapy in both groups. Laughter therapy was performed for 6 weeks, a sixty-minute session per week. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Friedman and T-test and McNemar tests.

The mean age of the participants was 73.9 ± 5.1 years. Pain intensity was homogeneous in both groups before intervention (p=0.965), but after each session it was significantly much less in the intervention group compared to the control (p<0.001). The number of pain areas after 6 sessions was significantly lower in the intervention group (p=0.005). No significant difference was seen in the frequency of pain in the two groups after 6 sessions (p<0.05), but in the intervention group the number of people with headache decreased after the sixth session, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.7).

Laughter therapy can be effective in reducing the severity and number of pain areas in the elderly. It is recommended that respected welfare and rehabilitation authorities use laughter therapy as an uncomplicated, inexpensive way to promote the general health of the elderly.