Effects of Laughter Therapy on Immune Responses in Postpartum Women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of laughter therapy on secretory IgA (sIgA) in postpartum women.


METHODS
The study used a nonequivalent control group with nonsynchronized design. The participants were 76 postpartum women who agreed to participate in this study and were selected by convenience sampling (experimental group, n = 38; control group, n = 38). The data were collected from December 15, 2009, to April 8, 2010. The experimental group participated in a postpartum laughter program from a laughter therapy expert for 60 minutes per session, twice a week for 2 weeks, for a total of four sessions. To evaluate the effects of the postpartum laughter program, sIgA levels in breast milk were measured. The data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 20.0 software.


RESULTS
Immune response (sIgA) significantly differed between the experimental and control groups.


CONCLUSIONS
A postpartum laughter program can be applied as a complementary and alternative intervention to postpartum women in a transitional mother-infant care center.
1 Department of Nursing, Seojeong College at Korea , Gyeonggi Province, Korea.
Kyung Hee
KH
Ryu
2 College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University at Korea , Seoul, Korea.
Hye Sook
HS
Shin
3 Department of Nursing, Sahmyook Health College at Korea , Seoul, Korea.
Eun Young
EY
Yang
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005221:Fatigue / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000032:analysis*; D027641:Laughter Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; D006854:Hydrocortisone