Academic Journal
Effects of laughter therapy in patients with cancer: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.
| Title: | Effects of laughter therapy in patients with cancer: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials. |
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| Authors: | Villalba-Ugarte FP; Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru., Sandoval-Ato RH; Universidad César Vallejo, Piura, Peru; Unidad de Investigación Clínica, Scientia Clinical and Epidemiological Research Institute, Trujillo, Peru., Valencia JG; Universidad Privada del Norte, Lima, Peru., Quispe-Villegas G; Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru., Castro CEM; Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Trujillo, Peru., Montes-Alvis J; EviSalud - Evidencias en Salud, Lima, Peru., Taype-Rondán Á; EviSalud - Evidencias en Salud, Lima, Peru; Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru., Goicochea-Lugo S; EviSalud - Evidencias en Salud, Lima, Peru; Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru. Electronic address: sgoicochea@usil.edu.pe. |
| Source: | Complementary therapies in medicine [Complement Ther Med] 2026 Sep; Vol. 100, pp. 103399. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 24. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Systematic Review; Review |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Scotland NLM ID: 9308777 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6963 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09652299 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Complement Ther Med Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Edinburgh : Elsevier Original Publication: Edinburgh ; New York : Churchill Livingstone, c1993- |
| MeSH Terms: | Laughter Therapy*/methods , Neoplasms*/therapy , Neoplasms*/psychology , Laughter*, Anxiety/therapy ; Depression/therapy ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Quality of Life |
| Abstract: | Background: Cancer and its treatments affect patients' physical and psychological well-being. Laughter therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention with potential to relieve these effects. Objective: To evaluate the effects of laughter therapy in patients with cancer. Methods: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to evaluate laughter therapy in cancer patients. Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov through September 1 of 2025. In pairs, the authors independently performed study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment. Meta-analyses used random-effects models, and evidence certainty was assessed using the GRADE approach. Results: Sixteen RCTs including 1127 patients were analyzed. Laughter therapy probably results in an important reduction in anxiety (SMD: -0.54, 95% CI: -0.84 to -0.24). It probably results in little to no difference in quality of life (MD: -0.65, 95% CI: -7.15-5.86), and in nausea-vomiting severity (MD: -0.45, 95% CI: -0.80 to -0.09; moderate certainty). It may also lead to an important reduction in pain, and in stress, but may result in little to no difference in nausea frequency (low certainty). However, the evidence regarding depressive symptoms, fatigue, mood, and vomiting frequency is very uncertain (very low certainty). Conclusion: Laughter therapy probably reduces anxiety and may reduce pain and stress in patients with cancer. However, these findings should be interpreted considering limitations related to risk of bias, heterogeneity among interventions, and imprecision due to small sample sizes. Further high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm these findings and compare different modalities of laughter therapy. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Anxiety (source: MeSH NLM); Cancer; Depression; Laughter therapy; Neoplasms |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260624 Date Completed: 20260716 Latest Revision: 20260716 |
| Update Code: | 20260717 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103399 |
| PMID: | 42342085 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-6963 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103399 |