Clinical trial · Interventional
Effects of Laughter Yoga on Symptom Severity, Hope, and Life Engagement in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy; A Randomized Controlled Study
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Non-pharmacological interventions that promote positive emotional states and coping may play a critical role in care of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.This study aimed to evaluate the effects of laughter yoga on symptoms, hope, and life engagement levels in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Conducted between January and June 2025 at the chemotherapy unit of Atatürk University Research Hospital in Türkiye. . Sixty patients were randomized (30 per group). Five were excluded after randomization before baseline assessment because of changes in medical treatment, leaving 55 participants in the per-protocol analysis (intervention n= 27; control n= 28). Symptom severity, hope, and life engagement were measured at baseline and after four weeks using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), Herth Hope Scale (HHS), and Life Engagement Scale (LES). Post-intervention analyses revealed statistically significant improvements in the intervention group compared to the control group. Patients who received laughter yoga reported significantly lower symptom severity on the ESAS (p \< 0.05), along with significantly higher levels of hope and life engagement as measured by the HHS and LES, respectively (p \< 0.05).
Conditions
Conditions (3)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Nurse's Role | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Quality of Life | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| lauhgter yoga | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Arm 2
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Arm 1
- description
- laughter yoga
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: lauhgter yoga
Primary outcomes (3)
- measure
- Edmonton Symptom Assesment Scale (ESAS)
- timeFrame
- 4 weeks
- description
- The scale, originally developed by Bruera et al. (1991) to assess nine common symptoms in cancer patients: pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, well-being, and shortness of breath. For this study, the Turkish version validated by Sadırlı and Ünsar (2009) was utilized, which includes three additional symptoms-changes in skin and nails, mouth sores, and numbness in the hands-resulting in a 12-item scale. Each symptom is rated on a numerical scale from 0 "symptom absent" to 10 "worst possible severity". In the Turkish validation study, Cronbach's alpha coefficients were reported as 0.83 for the pre-test and 0.76 for the post-test. In the present study, the Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the scale were calculated as 0.71 and 0.72 for the pre-test and post-test, respectively.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion criteria: (1) age ≥18, (2) pathologically confirmed cancer diagnosis, (3) be able to communicate, and (4) voluntary participation. Exclusion criteria: (1) diagnosed psychiatric disorders that may interfere with study participation or communication, (2) receiving medical treatments other than chemotherapy, (3) significant hearing or vision loss, (4) prior experience with laughter therapy, or (5) an unstable clinical condition. Discontinuation Criteria: (1) withdrawal request, (2) worsening of clinical condition, (3) change in treatment protocol.
References
Publications (0)
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