The Effect of Laughter Yoga on Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis

NCT07128264 | Not Yet Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: AU-SBE-SU-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study will be conducted to evaluate the effects of laughter yoga on disease activity, pain, functional status, depression/anxiety/stress, and quality of life in ankylosing spondylitis patients.

Conditions

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS)

Keywords

Ankylosing spondylitis(AS),Nursing,Pain,Depression/anxiety/stress,Laughter yoga

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI)

  BASDAI, which assesses disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis, was developed by Garret and colleagues in 1994 . The scale includes six questions to assess disease activity over the past week, consisting of fatigue, spinal pain, joint swelling, tenderness, and morning stiffness. The patient's symptoms are scored on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 = none, 10 = very severe). When calculating the total score, the average of questions 5 and 6 is added to the scores of questions 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the total is divided by 5 to determine the total score. The total score of the scale ranges from 0 to 10. Higher scores indicate greater disease activity.

  6 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Pain Scale (Visual Analog Scale)

  6 weeks

• Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI)

  6 weeks

• DASS-42 Scale (Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale)

  6 weeks

• Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (ASQoL)

  6 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients in the intervention group will be divided into 2 groups of 15 people. A total of 12 sessions of laughter yoga will be applied to the intervention group in the form of meetings via the Microsoft teams application, in 45-minute sessions 2 times a week for 6 weeks. Laughter yoga sessions will be held every week on ………. and ………. days. The days of the laughter yoga program will be decided in accordance with the patients, together with the participating patients, on the basis of research. Before the laughter yoga, an informative message will be sent to each patient in the intervention group about the meeting and the patients' participation in the sessions will be checked with a follow-up chart.

Behavioral: Laughter Yoga

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Laughter yoga will not be applied to patients in the control group.

Interventions

Laughter Yoga BEHAVIORAL

Laughter eliminates feelings such as hopelessness, anger, and anxiety, thereby alleviating stress, depression, and anxiety, raising the pain threshold, reducing stress, accelerating blood circulation, strengthening immunity, improving quality of life, strengthening memory, reducing tension, and relaxing muscles. Based on these positive effects, laughter yoga is a complementary treatment method that combines humor and laughter. Laughter yoga sessions will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams in a quiet and peaceful environment at home. The first 10-minute section consists of warm-up exercises (warming up and clapping). The second 10-minute section consists of deep breathing exercises that prepare the lungs for laughter. The third 10-minute section consists of childlike games that induce laughter without humor. The fourth and final 15-minute section consists of laughter exercises that enable laughter without any jokes, comedy, or humor.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Those diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis,
• Those who scored 10 or above on the depression scale, 8 or above on the anxiety scale, and 15 or above on the stress scale of the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale
• Are over 18 years of age,
• Have no hearing or communication problems,
• Possess a smartphone,
• Have no physical problems that would prevent them from performing yoga exercises (bleeding hemorrhoids, any type of hernia, persistent cough, incontinence, hypertension, major psychiatric disorders, pregnancy, flu, epilepsy, or surgery within the last 3 months, etc.)
• Ankylosing spondylitis patients who volunteer to participate in the study will be included in the study sample.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients who do not participate in laughter yoga
• Patients who wish to withdraw from the study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ataturk University: lead

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Spondylitis, Ankylosing

Interventions

Laughter Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Axial Spondyloarthritis; Spondylarthropathies; Spondylarthritis; Spondylitis; Spinal Diseases; Bone Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Ankylosis; Joint Diseases; Arthritis

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mind-Body Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Emine KIYAK, Prof.Dr.

  Ataturk University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Selanay UNAL, Graduate student

CONTACT

+905315011736; selenayunal65@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Two groups with a laughter yoga control group

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 12, 2025
• First Posted: August 17, 2025
• Study Start: August 29, 2025
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2026
• Study Completion: April 1, 2026
• Last Updated: August 17, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share