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CompletedNCT05317091Updated Apr 7, 2022

The Effect of Laughter Yoga on Nurses' Perceived Stress Burnout and Life Satisfaction During the Pandemic Period

An interventional study of Laughter yoga practiced in Abdominal Surgery, Hypertension and Done Laughter Yoga Before, sponsored by Ataturk University. Completed at 1 site in Turkey. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-04-07.

Sponsored by Ataturk University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 9 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jun 2021, registered Mar 2022).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
101
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study aimed to determine the effects of laughter yoga on the perceived stress, burnout and life satisfaction of nurses working actively during the pandemic period. A total of 120 nurses, determined by power analysis, were included in the randomized controlled study. The study included 2 groups. (A group of nurses who have active contact with patients diagnosed with or at risk of covid-19, group B: nurses who have active contact with patients diagnosed with or at risk of covid-19 and participate in laughter yoga practice. Laughter yoga; immune system antibodies and endorphin hormone. It has been proven by experimental studies that there is a connection between the two, that it has a healing effect, that it accelerates the circulatory system as an adverse effect to stress, and that it has a vasodilation effect in the vessels.

Read the detailed description

The study data were collected by the researchers using online systems with the snowball method due to the pandemic. The inclusion criteria of the study (not having undergone abdominal surgery in the last three months, not having uncontrolled hypertension, not having glaucoma, hernia, epilepsy, not having received a psychiatric diagnosis-treatment, not having received a diagnosis-treatment for sleep problems, having done laughter yoga before) The study consisted of 100 nurses who agreed to participate in the study. Introductory features form consisting of 13 questions, Maslach Burnout Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and life satisfaction scale were used to collect data. Research data were collected in 3 months. During the study, 9 people from the experimental group (8 people did not attend the sessions regularly, 1 person left voluntarily), 10 people from the control group (he left voluntarily) quit the study. Finally, the research was completed with 101 nurses, 51 of whom were in the experimental group and 50 in the control group.

02

Conditions studied

  • Abdominal Surgery
  • Hypertension
  • Done Laughter Yoga Before
  • Epilepsy

Keywords

  • Pandemic, Nurse, Stress, Burnout, Life satisfaction, Laughter yoga
03

In context

Burnout, Psychological

442 studies on the registry are indexed under Burnout, Psychological; 106 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 101 is above the median of 80 across 319 interventional studies indexed under Burnout, Psychological.

Browse Burnout, Psychological studies →

Lead sponsor

Ataturk University is the lead sponsor of 442 studies on the registry; 121 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Not have undergone abdominal surgery in the past three months
  • Uncontrollable hypertension
  • Without epilepsy

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Antidepressant etc. nurses using drugs
  • Not attending sessions regularly
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
101 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Laughter yoga practice

    Laughter yoga for nurses The experimental group was divided into three groups as 18-17-16 people. Sessions 1st group Monday-Thursday between 12:00-13:00; 2nd group Tuesday-Friday between 17:00-18:00; The third group was held on Wednesday Saturday between 20:00-21:00.laughter yoga for nurses-Deep breathing exercises Deep breathing exercises (5 minutes), Warm-up exercises (10 minutes) laughter yoga for nurses-Childish games Childish games (10 minutes), Laughter exercises (15 minutes).

    Other: Laughter yoga practiced

  • Experimental
    Laughter yoga session parts-1

    Deep breathing exercises (5 minutes) Breathing is held for 4-5 seconds after deep inspiration. While the arms are brought to the normal position, exhale slowly and rhythmically. When expressing after deep inspiration, the lips can be pursed as if whistling or exhaled with laughter.

    Other: Laughter yoga practiced

  • Experimental
    Laughter yoga session parts-2

    Warm-up exercises (10 minutes) Rhythm of 1-2, 1-2-3 is added to increase the energy level even more and synchronize the movements of the group. After a few rhythmic clapping movements, another movement is added. Whisking hands left and right. Then an audible rhythm of ho, ho, ha-ha-ha is added to the clapping gesture. Make eye contact with people in the group and smile at them.

    Other: Laughter yoga practiced

  • Experimental
    Laughter yoga session parts-3

    Childish games (10 minutes) Childlike games are used to help laugh without reason just like a child. The group is motivated by visualizing these games in their minds, raising the arms up in the form of a "Y" letter, and saying "very good (applause), very good (applause), hey" with palms facing the sky.

    Other: Laughter yoga practiced

  • Experimental
    Laughter yoga session parts-4

    Laughter exercises (15 minutes) This section includes a variety of laughter exercises such as greetings, strawberry milk, conductor, bonus, hot soup, lion, aloha, bird, appreciation, laughter lotion, elevator, cream cake, and bursting balloon laughter.

    Other: Laughter yoga practiced

Interventions

  • OtherLaughter yoga practiced

    In this study, 8 sessions of laughter yoga were applied to the nurses in the experimental group as an intervention, twice a week for 4 weeks. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic; Laughter Yoga sessions were held on the web through the 'ZOOM' program. For this reason, it is recommended that the laughter yoga sessions be done with a group and that the group should consist of at least five people in order to provide group dynamics. Sessions are planned according to the days and hours that nurses can attend. Sessions 1st group Monday-Thursday between 12:00-13:00; 2nd group Tuesday-Friday between 17:00-18:00; The third group was held on Wednesday-Saturday between 20:00-21:00. The nurses were constantly contacted (whatsapp, phone) to ensure that they attend the sessions regularly and that there is no interruption in the sessions. No experiment was performed on the control group during the study. However, after the research, a 4-week laughter yoga was given to the nurses who wanted it.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Introductory Information Form (questionnaire)

    In this form prepared by the researchers; There are a total of 9 questions including age, gender, education level, marital status, working year, frequently worked shift, Covid-19 passing and being vaccinated, whether or not he has knowledge about laughter yoga.

    Time frame: up to 2 weeks

  2. Perceived Stress Scale

    The scale, which was created in order to understand how stressful individuals perceive certain events they experience, consists of 14 items, graded in a 5-point Likert type. In the scale, 7 items containing positive statements are reverse scored. The score range of the scale ranges from 0 to 56, and a high score indicates a high level of stress. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.84. In this study, the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.75.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks]

  3. Maslach Burnout Scale

    The scale, consisting of 22 items and three sub-dimensions, is in the 5-point Likert type. The sub-dimensions of the scale are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement. Positive statements in the dimension of personal achievement are reverse coded. The high mean score of the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization sub-dimensions and low personal achievement mean scores indicate high burnout. The lowest score that can be obtained from the scale is 0 and the highest score is 88. The Cronhbach Alpha values of the scale were found to be 0.83 for emotional exhaustion, 0.65 for depersonalization and 0.72 for personal achievement.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks

  4. Life Satisfaction Scale

    There are 5 items in the scale, and each item is arranged according to a 7-point answer system. A score between 5-35 can be obtained from the scale. Higher scores indicate higher life satisfaction. The Cronbach Alpha value of the scale is .88. In this study, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was found to be .87.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Perceived Stress Scale

    The scale, which was created in order to understand how stressful individuals perceive certain events they experience, consists of 14 items, graded in a 5-point Likert type. In the scale, 7 items containing positive statements are reverse scored. The score range of the scale ranges from 0 to 56, and a high score indicates a high level of stress. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.84. In this study, the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.75.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks

  2. Maslach Burnout Scale

    The scale, consisting of 22 items and three sub-dimensions, is in the 5-point Likert type. The sub-dimensions of the scale are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement. Positive statements in the dimension of personal achievement are reverse coded. The high mean score of the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization sub-dimensions and low personal achievement mean scores indicate high burnout. The lowest score that can be obtained from the scale is 0 and the highest score is 88. The Cronhbach Alpha values of the scale were found to be 0.83 for emotional exhaustion, 0.65 for depersonalization and 0.72 for personal achievement.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks

  3. Life Satisfaction Scale

    There are 5 items in the scale, and each item is arranged according to a 7-point answer system. A score between 5-35 can be obtained from the scale. Higher scores indicate higher life satisfaction. The Cronbach Alpha value of the scale is .88. In this study, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was found to be .87.

    Time frame: up to 5 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Tülay Kılınç
    Erzurum, Palandöken 25000, Turkey
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Si S Celi K A, Kilinc T. The effect of laughter yoga on perceived stress, burnout, and life satisfaction in nurses during the pandemic: A randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2022 Nov;49:101637. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101637. Epub 2022 Jul 5. PubMed 35810525 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 7, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05317091
Lead sponsor
Ataturk University
Responsible party
Tülay KILINÇ (Principal Investigator, Ataturk University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 7, 2022
Start date
Jun 15, 2021
Primary completion
Aug 30, 2021
Completion
Mar 15, 2022
Last update
Apr 7, 2022

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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