The Efficacy of Multisession Mindful Breathing in Symptom Reduction Among Patients With Advanced Cancers

University Malaysia Sarawak

Status: Completed

Conditions: Advanced Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindful breathing; Other: Standard care (control)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05910541

MREC No. 20191125-8042

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine the efficacy of multisession mindful breathing in reducing symptoms among patients with advanced cancer. Adult patients with advanced cancer will be assessed using Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) scoring system. Patients who scored ≥4 in at least two or more components in ESAS will be recruited and randomly assigned to either 4 daily-session of 30-minute mindful breathing and standard care or standard care alone.

Full description

Patients with advanced cancer admitted to the medical and surgical wards of UMMC were consecutively approached to screen for eligibility. The 30-minute mindful breathing of the intervention group was guided by similar investigators for four consecutive days. These investigators were medical doctors who had been trained by the primary investigators - a palliative care physician and a certified mindfulness trainer. Each session used different scripts and was conducted in the languages that were preferred by the patients (such as Malay, English, or Mandarin). Briefly, patients were primed with knowledge of the gist of each script before being instructed to relax their bodies, close their eyes, pay attention to their breathing, and follow the guidance given. If they noticed any distractions, they were told to redirect their attention back to their breathing. Patients in the control group only received standard care and were assessed at the same time of the day by similar investigators for four consecutive days. Patients were allowed to continue their usual activities during each session.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• ongoing stage IIII-IV cancer, and a score of four or more in at least two components

Exclusion criteria

• impaired cognition or conscious level, as well as psychiatric illnesses that prevent them from giving informed consent or participating fully in the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will receive standard care plus daily sessions of 30-minute mindful breathing for four consecutive days

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindful breathing

Other: Standard care (control)

Control

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Patients will only receive standard care.

Treatment:

Other: Standard care (control)