The Effect of Laughter Yoga and Premenstrual Symptoms

NCT07074314 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: KırklareliAS-15
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 75
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) describes somatic, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that occur in women during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and resolve with the onset of menstruation. These symptoms are common during the reproductive years. The emotional symptoms of PMS include depression, outbursts of anger, irritability, crying spells, anxiety, confusion, social withdrawal, poor concentration, insomnia, increased short sleep, and changes in sexual desire. Premenstrual symptoms negatively impact women's relationships with family, work, and friends, as well as their social activities. Furthermore, premenstrual symptoms negatively impact a woman's quality of life, making them an important issue to address early in a woman's life. Numerous treatment methods are used to reduce or eliminate PMS symptoms. Laughter yoga is one of the alternative medicine methods that has recently emerged and is used to maintain and improve health. No studies have examined the effectiveness of laughter yoga in reducing premenstrual syndrome. This study aims to determine the effects of laughter yoga on quality of life and premenstrual symptoms in young people experiencing premenstrual syndrome.

Conditions

Quality of Life; Premenstrual Syndrome

Keywords

laughter yoga; premenstraul syndrome; qualifty of life

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• The Premenstrual Symptoms Coping Scale

  This scale assesses the coping with premenstrual symptoms in women aged 18-49. The scale consists of 27 items and five subscales in Turkish. Each item on this five-point Likert-type scale is scored from one to five. The total score is not used.

  between 2 to 4 weeks

• Premenstrual Syndrome-Specific Quality of Life Scale

  The scale consists of 22 items divided into three subscales: physical, emotional, and social. Reverse coding is used for all items, with a minimum score of 22 and a maximum score of 110.

  between 2 to 4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Laughter yoga group

EXPERIMENTAL

Before starting the intervention, the researcher attended a 12-hour "Laughter Yoga Leader" course (8 hours of theory and 4 hours of Laughter Yoga Practice). Following the course, the researcher received a "Laughter Yoga" certificate. In the first stage, all participants will be asked to introduce themselves by giving their names and places of birth. Then, laughter yoga will begin with warm-up exercises and hand clapping movements. In the second stage, deep breathing exercises will be performed. After the deep breathing exercises, in the third stage, childlike games will be used to help induce laughter. In the final stage, laughter exercises will be conducted. Laughter yoga sessions will be conducted twice a week for 8 weeks, for a total of 16 sessions. Each session will be 30 minutes in duration.

Other: Laughter yoga

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in this group will consist of people who do not routinely do any practice on their own to reduce stress and burnout levels. The researcher will ask the participants via phone 4 times a week for 1 month whether they have taken any action to reduce their stress and burnout symptoms. Participants who use any of the pharmacological or non-pharmacological practices to reduce stress and burnout symptoms will be excluded from the study.

Interventions

Laughter yoga OTHER

Part 1: Deep Breathing Exercises: Raise the arms up towards the sky and take a deep breath as possible and hold the breath for 4-5 seconds. This application is repeated several times. This section takes approximately 5-10 minutes. Part 2: Warm-up exercises: Hands are kept parallel to each other and clapped. The tips of the fingers and palms touch each other, the acupuncture points on both hands are stimulated and the individual's energy level increases. Section 3: Childish Games: In this section there are childish games. These games are visualized in the mind and the participants are asked to raise their arms upwards in the shape of the letter "Y".This section takes approximately 10 minutes. Section 4: Laughter Exercises: Participants are given verbal guidance such as "Put your hand on your heart, feel your heartbeat, let's exhale with a smile, let's make a wish or pray" and the laughter exercise is terminated. This section takes approximately 15 minutes.

Laughter yoga group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Volunteering to participate in the research
• Fully answering survey and scale forms
• Ability to read and understand Turkish
• Being between the ages of 18 and 25 years
• Having regular menstruation (between 21 and 35 days)

You may not qualify if:

• Unwilling to continue working
• Having any problem that prevents communication (such as hearing, speaking, and understanding abilities),
• Having a gynecological disease (abnormal uterine bleeding, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, hormonal treatment, etc.)
• Having a chronic or physical illness
• Having a mental illness
• Being under psychiatric treatment (Pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy)
• Taking medication for menopausal symptoms
• Using one of the pharmacological or non-pharmacological methods to reduce premenstrual symptoms (COCs, acupressure, homeopathy, etc.)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kırklareli University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Cukurova University

Adana, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Premenstrual Syndrome

Interventions

Laughter Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Menstruation Disturbances; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mind-Body Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• ELIF DAGLI, Phd

  Cukurova University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Asssociate professor

Model Details: Randomized controlled trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 10, 2025
• First Posted: July 20, 2025
• Study Start: December 25, 2025
• Primary Completion: December 25, 2025
• Study Completion: December 30, 2025
• Last Updated: January 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Locations

TU (1)