The Effects of Humor Therapy on the Fatigue in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing External Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cancer-Related Fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common symptoms reported among women with breast cancer and is the most prominent side effect of cancer treatments. This complication leads to a number of problems in the patient. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of humor therapy on the fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing external radiation therapy. METHODS: This study was a clinical trial with parralel planning and before and after. The experiment was conducted on 58 cancer patients receiving radiation therapy in 5 weeks -from the beginning of July 2013 until early October 2013 for a period of 3 months. The research was assigned to two groups of humor therapy and control group (each group consisting of 29 subjects who were randomly assigned to their group). The patients in the experimental group attended the humor therapy sessions twice a week for a month (a total of 8 sessions). The sessions were held using approaches like playing comedy clips, telling jokes and taking part in fun games. Fatigue questionnaires were completed at the end of the first, second and the fifth week as the post-test. The control group patients received routine care. Ultimately, the two groups were put to comparison. FINDINGS: Fatigue in the laughter therapy group rose from 0.93±0.74 in the first week to 3.36±1.35 in the fifth. In the control group, on the other hand, it went from 1.01±0.96 in the first week to 7.29±2.67 in the fifth week (p=0.001). Thus, fatigue in the first, second, third, fourth and the fifth week was of significant statistical difference. (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that humor therapy is largely effective in reducing cancerrelated fatigue. The health system could enhance cancer patients’ well-being and improvement by providing them with a delightful, joyous environment.