Prescribing Laughter for Sleep and Wellbeing in UAE University Students

NCT ID: NCT04171245

Last Updated: 2020-01-13

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

40 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-09-26

Study Completion Date

2020-04-15

Brief Summary

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This study is in line with the UAEs national drive to promote happiness and wellbeing. University students risk impaired psychological health, wellbeing, and sleep due to academic pressures. This research is the first to assess the feasibility of using a laughter prescription to improve psychological health and sleep in Zayed University students. Forty students will be recruited, and randomized to a control or laughter group.

Detailed Description

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The Laughie is a self created app or tool. It is a one minute recording of the user's joyful laughter on their smartphone. Once recorded, the user uses it by playing back the recording and laughing with it for the duration of the one minute. The Laughie acts as a prompt to guide the one minute of laughter.

In this research the experimental group each record their own Laughie, demonstrated and supported by the PI(s). They are then prescribed to laugh with their Laughie: 3x a day the first week (morning, lunch, and afternoon) and at least 2x a day during the second week. Immediately after using their Laughie they fill in a Laughie checklist to record whether they laughed for the full minute, whether they enjoyed their Laughie, and how they felt afterwards.

This study tracks sleep using wrist actigraphy in the control group (no Laughie prescription) and in the Laughie group. All participants complete one week baseline using sleep watches, and sleep diaries, prior to the Laughie intervention. They all then continue to track their sleep during the intervention. All participants complete WHO Five well-being, PSKI, and HADS pre and post intervention. During the intervention the Laughie participants complete Laughie checklists. All participants are invited for a final interview (the control group about the sleep equipment experience). A follow-up survey is sent to the Laughie group 2 months after their prescription.

Conditions

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Sleep Mental Health Wellness

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Experimental

One minute laughter prescription 3x a day Tracking sleep using equipment

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Laughie laughter prescription

Intervention Type OTHER

Creation of a Laughie; laughing with their Laughie 3x a day

Sleep tracking equipment

Intervention Type DEVICE

Tracking sleep using equipment

Control

Tracking sleep using equipment

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Sleep tracking equipment

Intervention Type DEVICE

Tracking sleep using equipment

Interventions

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Laughie laughter prescription

Creation of a Laughie; laughing with their Laughie 3x a day

Intervention Type OTHER

Sleep tracking equipment

Tracking sleep using equipment

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Exclusion Criteria

\-
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

50 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Zayed University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

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Zayed University

Abu Dhabi, , United Arab Emirates

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United Arab Emirates

Central Contacts

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Teresa Arora, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+971 2 599 3160

Facility Contacts

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Teresa Arora, PhD

Role: primary

References

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Gonot-Schoupinsky FN, Garip G, Sheffield D, Omar OM, Arora T. Prescribing laughter to ameliorate mental health, sleep, and wellbeing in university students: A protocol for a feasibility study of a randomised controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2020 Nov 26;20:100676. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100676. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33305066 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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ZU19_064_F

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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