Abstract: Objective To study the effects of watching humorous videos on anxiety and depression in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods We choose 69 MHD patients in our hospital. They were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, Patients were treated with conventional hemodialysis
nursing. Patients in the experimental group watched the humorous videos, and those in the control group randomly watched the TV programs. Self- rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self- rating depression scale (SDS) were used to evaluate the effects before and after the intervention. Results Before the intervention,
there were no statistical differences in scores of anxiety (χ²=0.358, P=0.859) and depression (χ²=0.276, P=0.926) between the experimental group and the control group. After the intervention, the scores of anxiety (χ²=9.687, P=0.012) and depression (χ²=10.509, P=0.010) were statistical different between the experimental group and the control group. Conclusion Watching humorous videos can relieve anxiety and depression in MHD patients.

Key words: humorous video, hemodialysis, anxiety, depression