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

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.