Demographic characteristics
| Characteristics | Technique | P value | |
| 20 min mindful breathing (n=20) | Control (n=20) | ||
| Mean age±SD | 66.75±3.22 | 69.20±2.54 | 0.554* |
| Gender, n (%) | 0.527† | ||
| Male | 11 (55) | 9 (45) | |
| Female | 9 (45) | 11 (55） | |
| Diagnosis, n (%) | 0.222‡ | ||
| Hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal malignancy | 8 (40) | 8 (40) | |
| Lung malignancy | 0 (0) | 2 (10) | |
| Urological malignancy | 1 (5) | 3 (15) | |
| Breast malignancy | 1 (5) | 3 (15) | |
| Gynaecological malignancy | 3 (15) | 2 (10) | |
| Endocrine malignancy | 1 (5) | ||
| Musculoskeletal malignancy | 1 (5) | ||
| Non-malignant diagnosis | 5 (25) | 1 (5) | |
| Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, n (%) | 0.800‡ | ||
| 1 | 1 (5) | 1 (5) | |
| 2 | 6 (30) | 7 (35) | |
| 3 | 6 (30) | 8 (40) | |
| 4 | 7 (35) | 4 (20) | |
| Baseline ESAS at Minute 0 (median score and IQR) | |||
| Pain | 3 (4) | 1 (5) | 0.064§ |
| Tiredness | 5 (4) | 5 (4) | 0.649§ |
| Drowsiness | 5 (4) | 4 (4) | 0.280§ |
| Nausea | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | 0.972§ |
| Lack of appetite | 6 (2) | 4 (6) | 0.566§ |
| Shortness of breath | 2.5 (7) | 0 (5) | 0.240§ |
| Depression | 5.5 (5) | 3 (5) | 0.019§ |
| Anxiety | 5 (7) | 3 (4) | 0.120§ |
| Well-being | 5 (3) | 5 (5) | 0.310§ |
| Total ESAS score | 35.5 (21) | 29.5 (12) | 0.018§ |
*Student’s t-test.
†χ2 test.
‡Fisher’s exact test.
§Mann-Whitney U test.
ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; ESAS, Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale.