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Laughter yoga versus group exercise program in elderly depressed women: a randomized controlled trial
- Authors:
- SHAHIDI Mahvash, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(3), March 2011, pp.322-327.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Laughter Yoga, founded by Kataria, is a combination of unconditional laughter and yogic breathing and has been shown to have beneficial effects on both mental and physical health. This study compared the effectiveness of Kataria's Laughter Yoga and group exercise therapy on depression and life satisfaction in older women of a cultural community in Tehran. Seventy depressed women (aged 60-80 years) selected using the Geriatric Depression Scale completed a Life Satisfaction Scale pre-test and demographic questionnaire. They were randomised to one of three groups; ten session of laughter therapy, ten sessions of aerobic exercise therapy or a control group. Post-test depression and life satisfaction scores were analysed for the 60 subjects who completed the study. This revealed a significant difference in the decrease in depression scores of both the Laughter Yoga and exercise therapy groups in comparison to the control group but no significant difference between the two intervention groups. The increase in life satisfaction of the Laughter Yoga group showed a significant difference in comparison with the control group. These findings suggest that Laughter Yoga is at least as effective as a group exercise program in improving depression and life satisfaction in elderly women.