The effect of laughter therapy based on Kolcaba Comfort Theory on surgical stress, oxygen saturation, pain and comfort level in bariatric surgery patients

This study was conducted to examine the effect of laughter therapy based on Kolcaba Comfort Theory on surgical stress, oxygen saturation, pain and comfort level in bariatric surgery patients. A total of 66 patients, 33 in the experimental group and 33 in the control group, participated in the randomized controlled single-blind design study. The data of the study were collected from bariatric surgery patients in the general surgery service of Düzce University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between April 2022 and September 2023 after ethics committee approval and institutional permission were obtained. Laughter therapy based on Kolcaba Comfort Theory was applied to the experimental group for a total of six sessions twice a week in the preoperative period. No intervention was applied to control group patients. "Patient Descriptive Information Form", "Salivary Cortisol-Blood Glucose-Oxygen Level Form", "Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS-14)", "Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)" and "General Comfort Questionare (GCQ)" were used for data collection and saliva samples were taken for cortisol level. Descriptive statistical methods, Pearson Chi-square, Paired Samples T Test, Wilcoxon signed-rank Test, Independent Samples T test, Mann Whitney U, repeated measures ANOVA and Friedman tests were used to analyze the data. Significance level p<0.05 was accepted. It was found that postoperative blood glucose (p=0,020) and pain levels (p=0,000) were statistically significantly lower, comfort levels (p=0,000) and oxygen saturation levels (p=0,000) were statistically significantly higher in patients who received laughter therapy based on Kolcaba Comfort Theory compared to control group patients (p<0,05). Laughter therapy was found to have no statistically significant effect on postoperative perceived stress scale scores (p=0,066) and salivary cortisol levels (p=0,060) between the groups (p>0,05). It was found that laughter therapy It is recommended that laughter therapy based on Kolcaba Comfort Theory should be used by surgical nurses in the physiologic preparation phase of preoperative period for bariatric surgery patients as a non-pharmacologic method that is inexpensive, easily applicable, easily accessible and non-advers.