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RecruitingNCT05208164E-RCTUpdated Mar 5, 2025

My ESSENCE - A Research Study on Mindfulness for African-Americans With Type 2 Diabetes

An interventional study of Mindfunlness Meditation in Type 2 Diabetes, Sleep and Stress, sponsored by University of Illinois at Chicago. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 21 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-05.

Sponsored by University of Illinois at Chicago · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by May 2025, 1 year 4 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Registered 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Apr 2021, registered Dec 2021).
  • Started Apr 2021; still recruiting 5 years 6 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
21 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The proposed research and training will allow Dr. Alana Biggers to obtain critical research skills and study a mindfulness meditation program designed to improve sleep and reduce stress in African-American adults with diabetes. If effective, this program may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease among African-Americans with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Read the detailed description

African-Americans have disproportionate rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US. African-Americans with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have twice the risk than non-Hispanic whites for developing CVD. Poorer sleep and greater chronic psychological stress may contribute to this additional risk. Consequently, African-Americans have worse glycemic control among those with diabetes and higher CVD risk. One promising approach to improving CVD risk in African-Americans is mindfulness meditation (MM). MM can potentially reduce cardiovascular risk through attention control, emotional regulation, and self-awareness. The overall purpose of this K01 training grant is for Dr. Alana Biggers to obtain research training and develop skills needed to become an independent investigator, and use those skills to adapt and evaluate an established MM curriculum. The specific aims are to: (1) adapt and refine an established MM curriculum for African-Americans with T2DM and incorporate text messaging; (2) conduct an 8-week, pilot randomized, controlled trial of the adapted curriculum with up to 100 African-Americans with T2DM(goal of 68 for study completion); and (3) explore the impact of the intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors (blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, and lipid profile) and inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor α). Primary outcomes will include sleep quality and perceived stress evaluated at baseline, 8, and 16 weeks. The proposed research design consists of a pilot study, utilizes mixed-methods research, and involves both primary data collection and analysis. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to either the MM intervention or control. Patients will be assigned to fill cohorts so that those in intervention group will attend MM classes together. A cohort represents a group of 10-12 subjects enrolled within a 1-month time period. MM classes will guide participants in learning and implementing MM practices over 8 weeks. Data collection will occur at baseline, 8 weeks (completion of MM sessions), and 16 weeks. The 16-week data assessment will evaluate MM practice beyond the MM class structure to assess for sustainability.

This K01 training grant will provide Dr. Biggers career-building activities to further develop skills and a knowledge base in quantitative and qualitative methodology, health disparities research, and mobile health (mHealth)/behavioral health strategies in minority populations. With the guidance of an interdisciplinary mentorship team and institutional support, Dr. Biggers will receive the necessary assistance and training to work toward her long-term career goal of being an independent researcher with expertise in health disparities, mixed-methods, and mHealth behavioral research.

02

Conditions studied

  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Sleep
  • Stress
03

In context

Diabetes Mellitus

10,925 studies on the registry are indexed under Diabetes Mellitus; 1,318 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 100 is above the median of 80 across 8,367 interventional studies indexed under Diabetes Mellitus.

Browse Diabetes Mellitus studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Illinois at Chicago is the lead sponsor of 515 studies on the registry; 133 are open to participants now.

Of its 31 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 18 (58%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
21 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Self-identifies as African American or Black
  • Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
  • Valid address in greater Chicagoland area
  • Mobile phone with unlimited text-messaging
  • Mobile device (smartphone, tablet, or computer) with the ability to connect to the internet if remote online delivery
  • Availability to participate in mindfulness class either in-person or online
  • Age 21-75

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria

  • Untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
  • Severe insomnia, narcolepsy, or REM sleep related disorder
  • Major cognitive impairments or psychiatric disorder
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Limited English proficiency
  • Inability to send/receive text messages
  • Currently engaging in mindfulness practice
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Mindfulness Meditation Classes

    8 mindfulness classes: Participants will engage in 8 two-hour mind and body practice classes over 8 weeks in-person or online (during the pandemic). You will receive compensation for your participation and a yoga mat. You will need to wear comfortable clothing. These sessions can be done sitting in chair, sitting on the floor, or standing. Text messaging., in between classes you will receive text messages to encourage mind and body practices at home. Text messaging may appear as the following: 1.Do you have time to meditate right now? Yes or No. 2.Did you practice your mindfulness today? Yes or no. 3.Remember to wind down this evening and do not drink any caffeinated beverages 4 hours before bed.

    Behavioral: Mindfunlness Meditation

  • No intervention
    Usual Care

Interventions

  • BehavioralMindfunlness Meditation

    Sleep monitoring, mental health promotion and active enrollment/engagement in self-described coping mechanisms

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Sleep Quality

    Will use Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). PSQI has a minimum score of 0 (better) and maximum of 21 (worse). Score \> 5 is considered poor quality sleep.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 and 16 weeks.

  2. Perceived Stress

    Will use Perceived Stress Scale. Scale has a minimum value of 0, and maximum value of 40. Scores from 0-13 are considered low stress, 14-26 are moderate, and 27-40 are high perceived stress.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 and 16 weeks.

  3. Sleep Disturbances

    Will use Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Sleep Disturbance Short Form 8b. Scores are reported as T-scores, with 28.9 being the minimum value, and 76.5 being the maximum. Higher scores indicate greater sleep disturbances.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 and 16 weeks

  4. Sleep Impairment

    Will use Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Sleep Related Impairment Short Form 8a.Scores are reported as T-scores, with 30.0 being the minimum value, and 80.1 being the maximum. Higher scores indicate greater sleep impairment.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 and 16 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Cardiovascular Risk

    Fasting lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides) and blood pressure will be combined to estimate 10 year cardiovascular risk using the American College of Cardiology Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ACC ASCVD) Risk Estimator Plus Calculator.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 weeks

  2. Hemoglobin A1c

    Will use HbgA1c as a measure for determining cardiovascular risk.

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 weeks.

  3. Inflammatory Markers

    IL-6, CRP, TNF-alpha

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 8 and 16 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • University of Illinois at Chicago
    Chicago, Illinois 606012, United States
    • Arthi Dutta · Contact · myessence@uic.edu · 312-413-5372
    • Alana Biggers, MD, MPH · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 5, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05208164
Lead sponsor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Collaborators
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Responsible party
Alana Biggers (Primary Investigator, University of Illinois at Chicago) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 26, 2022
Start date
Apr 1, 2021
Primary completion
May 31, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 31, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 5, 2025

Study contacts

Alana Biggers, MD, MPH
Contact
abigger2@uic.edu
312-413-1793
Alyssa Lawrence
Contact
amlawre2@uic.edu
Alana Biggers
principal investigator · University of Illinois at Chicago

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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