ArticleBMJ open2021
Does variety of social interactions associate with frequency of laughter among older people? The JAGES cross-sectional study.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health and well-being comparison between residents of serviced housing for older people and community-dwelling older adults in japan: a propensity score matching analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Social physical activity and sedentary behaviour as key determinants of humour expression and loneliness in older adults: a cross-sectional study using bayesian variable selection approach.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Laughing During Conversations, But Not in Response to Digital Media, Is Associated With Less Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Social Withdrawal: A Cross-Sectional Study of German Adults in 2023.Health science reports · 2025Article
- How is the Beginning and End of Frequent Laughter Associated With Changes in Loneliness Amongst Older People in Japan? A JAGES Longitudinal Study.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- Frequency of Conversation, Laughter and Other Vocalising Opportunities in Daily Life and Maximum Tongue Pressure: The Goto Longevity Study.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Social Isolation Among Older Adults With Dysphagia Requiring Home Health Care: A Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Does online communication mitigate the association between a decrease in face-to-face communication and laughter during the COVID-19 pandemic? A cross-sectional study from JACSIS study.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSeveral studies have reported that laughter is associated with health benefits. In addition, social interactions, such as social relationships, social participation and so forth, have shown the association with not only health but also individual emotion. In this study, we conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the association between variety of social interactions and the frequency of laughter.
designCross-sectional study.
settingSampled from 30 municipalities in Japan.
participantsNon-disabled Japanese men (n=11 439) and women (n=13 159) aged ≥65 years using data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, which was conducted during October to December in 2013. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Laughing almost every day by self-reported questionnaire.
resultsPoisson regression analysis with robust error variance was used to calculate prevalence ratios (PRs) for laughing almost every day according to each social relationship and its potential community-level environmental determinants. The prevalence of laughing almost every day tended to increase with increased variety in each social interaction after adjusting, instrumental activities of daily living, number of living together, working status, depression, self-reported economic status and residence year. Among men and women, multivariate-adjusted PRs (95% CIs) by comparing participants with the highest and lowest categories were 1.18 (1.04 to 1.35) and 1.16 (1.04 to 1.29) in positive life events; 1.26 (1.10 to 1.45) and 1.09 (0.96 to 1.24) in perceived positive changes in the area; 1.15 (1.04 to 1.28) and 1.17 (1.07 to 1.28) in social participations; 2.23 (1.57 to 3.16) and 1.47 (1.02 to 2.12) in social relationships and 1.25 (1.08 to 1.45) and 1.29 (1.15 to 1.45) in positive built environments. These associations were also preserved after the restriction of participants who were not in depression.
conclusionsThis study shows that a greater variety of each social relationships and the potential community-level environmental determinants are associated with higher frequencies of laughter in Japan.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.