Medical clowns can help reduce hospital stay for children: Study

New research has made a remarkable discovery that can significantly change the quality of healthcare for children. Medical clowns can help children recover quicker and reduce their hospital stays.

Medical clowns are trained professionals who use humour and playfulness to entertain children who are undergoing a treatment at hospital. The new research has found evidence that suggests that they can reduce the time children stay in the hospital and the duration of antibiotic treatment for pneumonia.

The study conducted on 51 children revealed that those who were visited by medical clowns left the hospital a day earlier than those who weren't.

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“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," said Dr Karin Yaacoby-Bianu, a researcher at the Carmel Medical Centre and Israel Institute of Technology, Israel. “But their impact on children being treated for pneumonia has not been investigated.”

“Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in children, globally,” said Yaacoby-Bianu.

Laughter can have healing effects

The research was presented at the 2024 European Respiratory Society Congress. They divided 51 children aged between 2 and 18 into two groups, who were hospitalised for pneumonia.

During their stay, one of the groups included four 15-minute visits from a medical clown from the Dream Doctors Project. The clowns did various activities like singing, music, and guided meditation.

It was found that the group visited by clowns remained in the hospital for 43.5 hours and needed 2 days of IV antibiotic treatment, on average. The second group who were not visited by the clown stayed for 70 hours on average and needed 3 days of IV antibiotics. Other parameters like heart rate and inflammation were also lower in the group visited by clowns.

“While the practice of medical clowning is not a standardised 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,” explains Yaacoby-Bianu.

“Laughter and humour may also have direct physiological benefits by lowering respiratory and heart rates, reducing air trapping, modulating hormones, and enhancing the immune function.”

Medical clowns may ease the stress

Dr Stefan Unger, a paediatrician at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh, UK, says that adding medical clowns to the care team "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.”

The researchers are now examining whether medical clowns have similar effects on other diseases.

(With inputs from agencies)