Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many kidney transplant recipients continue to be affected by multiple symptoms even after their transplant. Mindfulness may be helpful to alleviate some of the symptoms. OBJECTIVES: Our current study aimed to determine the efficacy of a single session of 20-minute mindful breathing in alleviating multiple symptoms in kidney transplant patients. METHODS: Adult kidney transplant patients with at least one symptom scoring ≥ 4/10 based on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) were recruited from November 2020 to May 2021. Participants were randomly assigned to either 20-minute mindful breathing or control. RESULTS: Sixty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to intervention (N = 30) or control (N = 30). There was statistically significant greater reduction of the total ESAS score in the intervention group compared with the control group (mean difference = -4.833, confidence interval = -7.837, -1.830, t = -3.251, p = 0002). CONCLUSION: Our results provided evidence that 20-minute mindful breathing could reduce multiple symptoms rapidly in kidney transplant recipients.