So far scientific evidence on the effect of laughter yoga on prognosis and quality of life in primary breast cancer is limited. Few studies show positive effects on quality of life and stress. The aim of this trial is to investigate the effect of a structured laughter yoga program on individuals after initial treatment for primary breast cancer and to evaluate its effectiveness as a complementary medical treatment. Forty women with primary breast cancer were included in a monocentric, prospective, single-arm intervention trial. Quality of life, spirituality, affectivity, life satisfaction, depression, and stress were measured before the intervention, after the intervention, and six months after the start of the intervention. Internationally validated questionnaires for global and breast cancer-specific quality of life were used (FACT-B, FACIT-SP, PANAS, SWLS, BDI, PSS-10, NCCN Distress Thermometer). For the statistical analysis, we used IBM SPSS, Version 25. Differences were determined using the Wilcoxon Test, with a p-value <0.05 considered statistically significant. Our results show significant improvements in global (5.8%; p=0.014) and breast cancer-specific quality of life (7%; p=0.002). Significant improvements were also observed in spirituality (8.2%; p=0.001), life satisfaction (13.1%; p=0.001), depression (14.7%; p=0.028), and stress (7.9%; p=0.005). These improvements remained sustainable, as they were still detectable six months after the start of the intervention. The present data support the potential efficacy of a structured laughter yoga program for individuals after initial treatment for primary breast cancer and suggest laughter yoga as an appropriate complementary approach. Future research on laughter yoga in oncology is needed.
Werner et al. (Sun,) studied this question.