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CompletedNCT02394587Updated Dec 29, 2017

MBSR for Pain Catastrophizing in SCD

An interventional study of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction in Anemia, Sickle Cell, sponsored by Duke University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-12-29.

Sponsored by Duke University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Significance: The purpose of this exploratory study is to test the feasibility, accessibility, and effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) on reducing pain catastrophizing in persons with sickle cell disease (SCD) and chronic pain. One of the most difficult symptoms for SCD patients to manage is chronic pain. Approximately one-third of SCD patients experience chronic pain, which is associated with pain catastrophizing. Pain catastrophizing is a negative mental state toward pain stimuli and pain experience, and is associated with increased pain severity, pain interference, and lower social functioning, physical functioning, and mental health. There have been no psychobehavioral intervention studies that have attempted to alter the experience of pain catastrophizing in persons with SCD. MBSR is a complementary group-based therapy that emphasizes nonjudgmental awareness of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. With no pharmacological or non-pharmacological treatment for catastrophizing in persons with SCD, MBSR offers a potential solution to this highly significant problem for both SCD patients and providers. This project will be the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) of MBSR to reduce pain catastrophizing, and improve quality of life for SCD patients with chronic pain.

Methods: This study will enroll 60 adult patients with SCD and chronic pain from the Duke Adult Sickle Cell Clinic. Patients will be randomized to a MBSR or wait-listed control group. The MBSR group will complete a 6- week, group-based telephonic MBSR program that is administered by a certified MBSR clinician once a week for 90 minutes. MBSR feasibility, acceptability, and effects on pain catastrophizing will be assessed by questionnaires at baseline, week 1, 3, and 6 in both groups. At the end of week 6, 10 randomly selected MBSR participants will complete semi-scripted telephone interviews to help assess intervention acceptability, and the wait-listed control condition will be offered the same MBSR intervention.

02

Conditions studied

  • Anemia, Sickle Cell

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Keywords

  • mindfulness
  • MBSR
  • SCD
  • experimental
03

In context

Anemia, Sickle Cell

1,125 studies on the registry are indexed under Anemia, Sickle Cell; 239 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 60 is above the median of 40 across 762 interventional studies indexed under Anemia, Sickle Cell.

Browse Anemia, Sickle Cell studies →

Lead sponsor

Duke University is the lead sponsor of 2,058 studies on the registry; 274 are open to participants now.

Of its 204 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 165 (81%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Provide written informed consent,
  2. Are >age 21,
  3. Self-identify (to the PI at baseline assessment) that they are experiencing chronic, non-cancer pain that has persisted on most days for more than 6 months, and adversely affects their function or well-being,
  4. are able to speak and read English,
  5. Have access to a telephone (or cell phone) in the home for the intervention and individual assessment interviews (data from the SCD clinic indicate 82% of patients have a cell phone),
  6. Have access to a CD or mp3 player for homework assignments and daily practice,
  7. Are available during the scheduled telephone intervention, and
  8. Complete and return the baseline assessment

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients will be excluded if they report previously studying MBSR, currently receiving mindfulness-based or cognitive behavioral therapies, or being regular practitioners of mindfulness, including yoga.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

    Subjects assigned to the experimental group will participate in a MBSR foundation program, which includes weekly telephonic, group-based, 60-minute MBSR sessions for 6 weeks. The foundation program will introduce subjects to the concept of mindfulness with each week focusing on a different facet. Modeled after Kabat-Zinn's original program, breath awareness (focus on breath and observing thoughts without fighting or following them), body scan (promoting mindfulness of sensations in different parts of body), walking meditation (walking as form of meditation), loving kindness (projection of friendliness and kindness towards oneself and others), and choiceness awareness (awareness of all sensations with equal interest) will be taught.

    Behavioral: Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

  • Other
    Wait-listed control group

    Subjects assigned to the wait-listed control group will not receive the MBSR program, but will receive weekly reminders of their study participation, be asked to complete the same questionnaires (per telephone script) once every three weeks, and receive the same financial incentives as the MBSR group. Upon completion of the 6-week session, the wait-list control group will be offered the same MBSR program. At that time, a new series of MBSR sessions will be scheduled and offered to the wait-listed control patients. Subjects who elect to participate in MBSR will receive the same packet of materials and measures received by the intervention group and be asked to complete the measures again at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 weeks.

    Behavioral: Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

Interventions

  • BehavioralMindfulness-based Stress Reduction

    A non-pharmacological approach to pain management.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Acceptability of MBSR as measured by semi-scripted telephone assessments

    Acceptability of the intervention will be assessed by semi-scripted telephone or in-person interviews. The semi-scripted interview will focus on MBSR patients' reflections and expectations of the program, the mindfulness skills they found useful and in what ways, the skills they found less useful and or difficult to implement, and on any changes in thoughts or actions that resulted from the application of the MBSR techniques.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  2. Feasibility of MBSR as measured by recruitment, attrition rates, and practice logs

    Feasibility of the intervention will be assessed by recruitment and attrition rates, number of daily mindfulness logs completed, and average number of weekly minutes of mindfulness practice as recorded in logs. Feasibility data will be obtained for both the intervention and control subjects who elect to receive the intervention after the intervention is complete with the MBSR group. However, data will not be analyzed together because the delay to receiving the intervention would affect the results. Data from the control group will be used to help inform future studies.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Pain Catastrophizing as measured by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale

    Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize the pain catastrophizing at week1, 3, and 6, as measured by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Trajectory analyses, using a type of mixed effects model known as a random coefficients regression model for repeated measurement, will be conducted to evaluate and compare the rate and pattern of change over the 6 weeks in the MBSR and wait-listed control groups for pain catastrophizing.

    Time frame: baseline, week 1, week 3, and week 6

  2. Change in Mindfulness as measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale

    Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize mindfulness at week1, 3, and 6, as measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Trajectory analyses, using a type of mixed effects model known as a random coefficients regression model for repeated measurement, will be conducted to evaluate and compare the rate and pattern of change over the 6 weeks in the MBSR and wait-listed control groups for pain catastrophizing.

    Time frame: baseline, week 1, week 3, and week 6

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Duke University School of Nursing
    Durham, North Carolina 27701, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Williams H, Silva S, Simmons LA, Tanabe P. A telephonic mindfulness-based intervention for persons with sickle cell disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2017 May 15;18(1):218. doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-1948-x. PubMed 28506281 ↗
09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Apr 2015, a primary completion of Jan 2016 and a completion of Jan 2016. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Feb 9, 2015
First posted
Mar 20, 2015
Start
Apr 2015
Primary completionActual
Jan 2016
CompletionActual
Jan 2016
Last update
Dec 29, 2017
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 29, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02394587
Lead sponsor
Duke University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 20, 2015
Start date
Apr 2015
Primary completion
Jan 2016
Completion
Jan 2016
Last update
Dec 29, 2017

Study contacts

Paula Tanabe, PhD
principal investigator · Duke University School of Nursing

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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