Effects of laughter therapy on depression, cognition and sleep among the community-dwelling elderly

Aim: To investigate the effects of laughter therapy on depression, cognitive function, quality of life, and sleep of the elderly in a community. Methods: Between July and September 2007, the total study sample consisted of 109 subjects aged over 65 divided into two groups; 48 subjects in the laughter therapy group and 61 subjects in the control group. The subjects in the laughter therapy group underwent laughter therapy four times over 1 month. We compared Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Short-Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) between the two groups before and after laughter therapy. Results: There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. Before laughter therapy, the GDS scores were 7.98 +/- 3.58 and 8.08 +/- 3.96; the MMSE scores were 23.81 +/- 3.90 and 22.74 +/- 4.00; total scores of SF-36 were 54.77 +/- 17.63 and 52.54 +/- 21.31; 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 in laughter therapy group and control groups, respectively. After laughter therapy, the GDS scores were 6.94 +/- 3.19 (P = 0.027) and 8.43 +/- 3.44 (P = 0.422); the MMSE scores were 24.63 +/- 3.53 (P = 0.168) and 23.70 +/- 3.85 (P = 0.068); total scores of SF-36 were 52.24 +/- 17.63 (P = 0.347) and 50.32 +/- 19.66 (P = 0.392); the ISI scores were 7.58 +/- 5.38 (P = 0.327) and 9.31 +/- 6.35 (P = 0.019); the PSQI scores were 6.04 +/- 2.35 (P = 0.019) and 7.30 +/- 3.74 (P = 0.847) in both groups, respectively. Conclusion: Laughter therapy is considered to be useful, cost-effective and easily-accessible intervention that has positive effects on depression, insomnia, and sleep quality in the elderly. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2011; 11: 267-274.