The old saying goes that laughter is the best medicine, and researchers found that youngsters seriously ill with pneumonia in hospital made a faster recovery after a visit from face-painted entertainers.
Spending time with a specially-trained medical clown can shorten the hospital stay for children, say scientists.
According to the new study, they can also reduce the duration of intravenous antibiotic use.
Study leader Dr. Karin Yaacoby-Bianu of Carmel Medical Center in Israel said: “Medical clowns undergo specific training to work in hospitals.
“They have been shown to reduce pain and alleviate stress and anxiety in children and their families during medical treatment, and have been gradually integrated into many aspects of hospital care.
“But their impact on children being treated for pneumonia has not yet been investigated.
“Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in children globally.
“A child’s length of hospital stay depends on several factors including their well-being, vital signs, need for intravenous fluids and antibiotics and whether they develop complications.”
The team followed 51 children aged between two- and 18-years-old who had been hospitalized due to pneumonia.
One group received standard care; the second received standard care plus a 15-minute visit from a medical clown twice daily during the first 48 hours of hospitalization.
Three medical clowns from The Dream Doctors Project used various techniques, including music, singing, and guided imagination, to relax the patient.
They also encouraged the children to drink and eat by themselves again.
The Israeli research team found that the group visited by a medical clown had a shorter hospital stay—an average of 43.5 hours compared to 70 hours for the group not visited by the clowns.
The kids visited by a clown only needed two days of intravenous antibiotic treatment, compared to three days in the control group.
The researchers also noted a “significant” decrease in respiratory rate, heart rate, and inflammatory markers in the group who saw a clown.
Dr. Yaacoby-Bianu said: “While the practice of medical clowning is not a standardized interaction, we believe that it helps to alleviate stress and anxiety, improves psychological adjustment to the hospital environment, and allows patients to better participate in treatment plans like adherence to oral antibiotics and fluids.
“This in turn helps the children to recuperate faster.”
She added: “Laughter and humor may also have direct physiological benefits by lowering respiratory and heart rates, reducing air trapping, modulating hormones, and enhancing the immune function.”
The team is running further studies on the effect of medical clowns on other diseases to see where they might be most effective.
The findings were presented at Vienna, Austria’s European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress.
Dr. Stefan Unger, Chair of the ERS Group on Paediatric Respiratory Infection and Immunology, welcomed the findings.
Dr. Unger of the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the research, said: “This study indicates the positive effect that humor can have in healthcare settings and emphasizes the potential for non-pharmacological interventions to influence clinical outcomes.
“Shortening the length of children’s hospital stays by adding medical clowns to a multidisciplinary care team in cases of pneumonia may reduce physical and emotional stress on children and their families.
“It may also reduce costs and lift some of the burden on healthcare systems.”
He added: “The specific mechanisms by which humor influences clinical outcomes remain a subject for future investigation and further trials in larger patient cohorts are indicated to confirm the findings of this study.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
