Effect of Eight Weeks of Laughter Yoga Exercises on The Quality of Life of Patients ‎with Parkinson Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system that focuses on the elderly age group and affects their quality of life (QOL). Therefore، finding a way to reduce symptoms of this disease is necessary. Effects of laughter therapy on improvement of many diseases have been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Laughter Yoga (LY) on QOL in female patients with PD.

Twenty–four female patients with PD (stages 3-1 based on Yan and Yahr scale) voluntarily participated in this study. They were randomly assigned into experimental (mean ± SD، age 52.6 ± 6.8 years، weight 61.1 ± 7.8 kg، height 157/8± 4/3cm) and control (age 55.5 ± 6.7 years، weighing 67 ± 6.8 kg، height 158.4± 5.5 cm) groups. In addition to pharmacotherapy، the experimental group received 8 weeks of LY (3 sessions per week، each session lasting 45 minutes)، while the control group did not follow any effective physical activity. The patient’s QOL was evaluated using Quality of life questionnaire (PDQL) in the beginning and the end of study. Data analysis was performed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test at 5% error level using SPSS 22 software.

The data analysis showed that the mean score of quality of life in the experimental group was significantly increased after the intervention (p<0.001)، but in the control group the mean score of patients in the post-test compared to the pre-test was significantly lower (p = 0.007). Also، after intervention، the mean score of quality of life in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (p<0.001)، but there was no significant difference between two groups before the intervention (p = 0.863).

It can be concluded that LY has a positive effect on improving quality of life in patients with PD، therefore it can be suggested as a good modality for these patients.