The effect of laughter therapy on severity and sites of pain among elderly

Objectives: the prevalence of chronic pain in residents of nursing homes was 72%. Drug treatment is not recommended due to its risk. Humor therapy is a complementary medicine therapy. This study aimed to determine the impact of humor therapy on severity and sites of  pain among residents of nursing homes. Methods & Materials: The two-group randomized clinical trial, with 55 seniors in the intervention group (n = 28) and control (n = 27) was conducted in the same nursing home in Mashhad city in 2017. Inclusion criteria included age 85-60 years and having Chronic pain more than three months. The sampling was done as availability and the allocation into two groups was done as randomly. The Modified German Version of the Brief Pain Inventory was complete before the first and after each six session and sites of pain were complete before the first session and after sixth session. Humor therapy for 6 weeks, each week a 60-minute session was done. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 and were compared with using Mann-Whitney, Friedman and T-test and McNemar tests. Results: The mean age was 73/9 ± 5/1. Before the intervention, average pain severity score in both groups was similar (P=0/965), but after each session, in intervention group was significantly lower than control group (P<0/0001). Sites of pain after sixth session was significantly lower than control group (p=0/005). Conclusion: Humor therapy can be used as a factor reducing severity of pain because of low cost and safety of its use.