Feasibility of a brief group-based immersive 360° mindfulness program for stress-related outcomes in health sciences students: a 4-week pre–post pilot study

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Source: Frontiers Medicine

Original: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2026.1740585...

Published: 2026-02-25T00:00:00Z

A pilot study tested the feasibility of a short group program, MK360, which combines guided mindfulness with immersive 360° projection in a multisensory room without wearables, in 26 health science students (mean age 21 years, 88.9% female, 83.3% medical) in Lleida. Students completed four 20-minute sessions over 4 weeks. Perceived stress according to the PSS-14 decreased from a median of 29.5 (IQR 26.0–33.5) to 26.5 (IQR 19.5–33.8), Δ −3, but the difference was not statistically significant (p ≈ 0.10). The burnout subscales showed insignificant changes: a decrease in exhaustion and cynicism, an increase in academic effectiveness; the anxiety hasn't changed. During the sessions, heart rate decreased by 1.8 to 5.5 beats per minute and systolic blood pressure by 2.7 to 8.4 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure decreased in sessions 2 and 4. 69.2% (18 students) completed the study, 50% felt better emotionally, 38.9% no change; no serious adverse events were reported. The program was well tolerated with signs of reduced stress, but due to the uncontrolled design and small sample, a causal relationship is not confirmed.