The effect of humor on anxiety in patients receiving hemodialysis: An open-label, randomized trial

Patients receiving hemodialysis experience high levels of anxiety and stress.

This study aimed to examine the effect of humor on anxiety in patients receiving hemodialysis.

This open-label, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in 2018, on 63 patients receiving hemodialysis in Sabzevar, Iran. The participants were randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group using a permuted block randomization method. The intervention group participated in humor therapy sessions twice a week for 3 weeks. The control group received no intervention. Data were collected using Spielberger’s StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and 3 weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using the independent samples and the paired t tests.

The mean age of the participants was 61.85±7.93 and 54.61±5.89 in the intervention and control groups, respectively (P = 0.217). The mean baseline and posttest trait anxiety (TA) scores were not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.152 and 0.170, respectively). Also, the mean baseline scores of state anxiety (SA) in the intervention and the control groups were 48.45±14.21 and 47.28±15.12, respectively (P = 0.133). However, after the intervention, the mean score of SA decreased to 27.45±16.65 in the intervention group (P < 0.001), but this score increased to 49.43±15.42 in the control group (P = 0.227).

Humor therapy was effective in reducing SA. Hence, nurses working in hemodialysis departments are advised to use humor therapy as an easy, low-cost, and effective complementary therapy to reduce patients’ anxiety during a hemodialysis session.