Effect of watching children's laughter video on anxiety, nausea, vomiting and fatigue levels in patients receiving chemotherapy: A randomized controlled trial

This study was conducted to examine the effects of watching videos of children's laughter during chemotherapy on the level of state anxiety, nausea, vomiting and fatigue of patients. The study was designed as a pre-test-post-test single-blind randomized controlled experimental study in a parallel group. The study was conducted between September 2023 and May 2025. The universe of the study consisted of a total of 36 patients diagnosed with lymphoma who were randomly divided into two groups and received chemotherapy in the Konya City Hospital Hematology Department (Intervention = 18; Control = 18). "Patient Information Form", "Spielberger State-Trait Trait Anxiety Scale", "FACIT Fatigue Scale" and "Physiologic Parameter, Nausea-Vomiting Follow-up Form" were used for data collection. Patients in the experimental group were shown two different children's laughing videos prepared by the researchers at the beginning of the 1st and 2nd hour for 10 minutes each twice during chemotherapy administration. Patients in the control group were not subjected to any intervention other than routine practice during the application. Independent Sample t test, Chi-square tests, Mixed-order analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Ethical principles were observed at every stage of the study. In the study, it was determined that all physiologic parameters and the frequency of nausea and vomiting were similar between the groups in the intervention group who watched a child laughter video and the control group who did not receive any intervention (p>0.05). When the between-group group time comparison of the state anxiety and fatigue levels of the patients was made, it was found that the state anxiety (F=16.468 p<0.001 η2=0.333) and fatigue levels (F=4.465 p=0.036 η2=0.121) of the patients in the experimental group were lower than the control group, and the effect size according to the partial square value was lower in all measurements. As a result, it was determined that children's laughter video playback during chemotherapy was not an effective intervention on the physiologic parameters and nausea and vomiting frequency of the patients, but it was effective in reducing the state anxiety and fatigue levels of the patients. It is recommended that the intervention be applied to patients during chemotherapy in oncology clinics and that the effectiveness of the intervention be evaluated in different treatment methods. Key Words: Anxiety; Chemotherapy; Child Laughter; Fatigue; Nausea; Vomiting