A Chinese trial has found a four-week guided laughter exercise program significantly improved patient-reported dry eye symptoms following cataract surgery.
The randomised controlled trial enrolled 72 participants who developed dry eye disease (DED) after cataract surgery.
Patients were assigned to either a control group receiving standard treatment or to a laughter exercise group.
Study authors said the laughter group “practised making vocalisations like ‘hee hee hee’ and ‘hah hah hah’.
… the dry eye symptom scores of both the laughter and control group improved over time, but the laughter exercise group “showed significantly greater improvement in dry eye symptoms scores
“We considered that if a participant laughed audibly for at least five minutes, it counted as effective participation…”
The laughter sessions were held four times a day for four weeks and led by training nurses who “could use jokes or fun activities to help the patients perform the laughter exercises. In addition, participants watched humorous videos”.
The study authors said the dry eye symptom scores of both the laughter and control group improved over time, but the laughter exercise group “showed significantly greater improvement in dry eye symptoms scores”.
“However, tear meniscus height and tear break-up time, which are objective signs of DED, did not change significantly.”
Study authors concluded that laughter exercise intervention is suitable for patients with DED after cataract surgery who “might be unwilling to increase their medication burden and want to participate in self-management actively”.
“Laughter exercise is not meant to replace major treatments like Ats (artificial tears). Instead, it serves as a complementary therapy. It helps improve patients’ dry-eye symptoms and quality of life,” the study authors wrote.
“Nurses can easily teach patients this simple method. It only takes 5–10 minutes during postoperative health education, making it a great standardised, non-pharmaceutical adjunctive care measure.
“Laughter exercise has direct effects on symptom perception” and may also contribute to patients’ overall wellbeing, they said.
Reference
- Tan Y, Qin D, Song X, et al. laughter exercise for symptomatic improvement in dry eye following cataract surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Ophthalmol. 2026 Apr 7;20:578499. doi:Reference
- Tan Y, Qin D, Song X, et al. laughter exercise for symptomatic improvement in dry eye following cataract surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Ophthalmol. 2026 Apr 7;20:578499. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S578499.
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