title: The effects of laughter therapy on mood state and self-esteem in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate whether laughter therapy lowers total mood disturbance scores and improves self-esteem scores in patients with cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trial in a radio-oncology outpatient setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-two patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=33) or the wait list control group (n=29).
  
  
  METHODS
  Three laughter therapy sessions lasting 60 minutes each.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mood state and self-esteem.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The intention-to-treat analysis revealed a significant main effect of group: Experimental group participants reported a 14.12-point reduction in total mood disturbance, while the wait list control group showed a 1.21-point reduction (p=0.001). The per-protocol analysis showed a significant main effect of group: The experimental group reported a 18.86-point decrease in total mood disturbance, while controls showed a 0.19-point reduction (p<0.001). The self-esteem of experimental group was significantly greater than that of the wait list control group (p=0.044).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that laughter therapy can improve mood state and self-esteem and can be a beneficial, noninvasive intervention for patients with cancer in clinical settings.
authors: 1 Department of Nursing, Asan Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors: So Hee
authors: SH
authors: Kim
authors: Jeong Ran
authors: JR
authors: Kook
authors: Moonjung
authors: M
authors: Kwon
authors: Myeong Ha
authors: MH
authors: Son
authors: Seung Do
authors: SD
authors: Ahn
authors: Yeon Hee
authors: YH
authors: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007845:Laughter; D027641:Laughter Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012649:Self Concept