Application of Laughter Therapy in Reducing High Blood Pressure in Elderly Hypertension Patients in the Working Area of Tanah Kampung Community Health Center

Abstract

Hypertension is one of the deadly diseases that can cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage, and many other health problems. This disease also often occurs in the elderly. Various data obtained each year show an increase in patients suffering from hypertension, especially in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of applying laughter therapy in lowering high blood pressure in elderly hypertension sufferers. The treatment of hypertension with pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy, one of which is by using laughter therapy which functions as a decrease in high blood pressure. The type of research is a quick experiment with a One Group pretest-posttest approach. The population of this study was elderly people with hypertension in the Tanah Kampung Health Center work area, namely 216 people. The sampling technique used was Experimental with a total of 16 people. The results of this study showed the average blood pressure before receiving standard laughter therapy to be systolic 166.75 mmHg and diastolic 103.13 mmHg. In contrast, after receiving standard laughter therapy, the readings were 142.50 mmHg and 91.25 mmHg, respectively. Based on statistical tests, the P value was obtained = 0.000 < 0.05. It can be concluded that there is an effect of laughter therapy in lowering blood pressure in elderly hypertension sufferers. It is expected that the health center can provide health information about the benefits of laughter therapy to the community as one way to lower blood pressure in hypertension patients without side effects.