Effectiveness of laughter Yoga training on quality of life and mental health of Diabetic women

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of laughter yoga training on quality of life and mental health of women with diabetes.

A quasi-experimental study with two experimental groups, a control group, pre-test, post-test and two-month follow-up and the statistical population was 70 female teachers with diabetes in Zahedan in 1397. Sixty women were selected from this community in an accessible manner and randomly assigned 30 individuals in each of the experimental and control groups. Research tools Goldberg and Hiller (GHQ-28) and Parkerson and Berhadot (1990) and Health Laughter Yoga Program (2011) were administered to the experimental group in eight 60-minute group sessions once a week. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

The results indicated the effect of laughter yoga training on physical symptoms (F=4.55, P = 0.037), anxiety symptoms and sleep disorder (F = 3.33, P = 0.024), social functioning (F = 4.35, P = 0.041), depressive symptoms (F = 4.92, P=0.030), total mental health score (F = 3.68, P = 0.046), and Total Quality of Life Score (F = 5.12, P = 0/021) and this effect was sustained at follow-up.

According to the findings of this study, laughter yoga training can be used as a complementary therapy along with other therapies to improve the mental health and quality of life of women with diabetes.