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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Mar 31:14:1148468.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1148468. eCollection 2023.

Laughter yoga as an enjoyable therapeutic approach for glycemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial

Mayumi Hirosaki  1   2 , Tetsuya Ohira  1 , Yawei Wu  3 , Eri Eguchi  1 , Kokoro Shirai  3 , Hironori Imano  3   4 , Narumi Funakubo  1 , Hitoshi Nishizawa  5 , Naoto Katakami  5 , Iichiro Shimomura  5 , Hiroyasu Iso  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Laughter yoga as an enjoyable therapeutic approach for glycemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial

Mayumi Hirosaki et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Laughter has been reported to have various health benefits. However, data on the long-term effects of laughter interventions on diabetes are limited. This study aimed to investigate whether laughter yoga can improve glycemic control among individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: In a single-center, randomized controlled trial, 42 participants with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group. The intervention consisted of a 12-week laughter yoga program. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), body weight, waist circumference, psychological factors, and sleep duration were evaluated at baseline and week 12.

Results: Intention-to-treat analysis showed that participants in the laughter yoga group experienced significant improvements in HbA1c levels (between-group difference: -0.31%; 95% CI -0.54, -0.09) and positive affect scores (between-group difference: 0.62 points; 95% CI 0.003, 1.23). Sleep duration tended to increase in the laughter yoga group with a between-group difference of 0.4 hours (95% CI -0.05, 0.86; P = 0.080). The mean attendance rate for laughter yoga program was high (92.9%).

Conclusions: A 12-week laughter yoga program is feasible for individuals with type 2 diabetes and improves glycemic control. These findings suggest that having fun could be a self-care intervention. Further studies with larger numbers of participants are warranted to better evaluate the effects of laughter yoga.

Clinical trial registration: http://www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn, identifier UMIN000047164.

Keywords: glycemic control; laughter; laughter yoga; positive affect; self-care; type 2 diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) diagram of study participants.
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