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Status unknownNCT05584085ACT-DEUpdated Feb 8, 2023

ACT-DE for Diabetes Distress and HbA1c in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

An interventional study of ACT-DE in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Diabetes Education and Diabetes Distress, sponsored by Chinese University of Hong Kong. Status unknown at 1 site in Hong Kong. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 64 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-02-08.

Sponsored by Chinese University of Hong Kong · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Feb 2023), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
176
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 64 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a structured acceptance-based diabetes education programme for adults with type 2 diabetes compared with those who received diabetes education. The programme mainly comprises acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a psychological component and a diabetes education (DE) component. The short form of the programme is named 'ACT-DE'. This programme aims to decrease the diabetes distress level in participants with type 2 diabetes and improve their blood glucose level. The objectives are:

  1. To develop an ACT-based intervention protocol as a guide for promoting healthy coping in people with type 2 diabetes who are psychologically distressed.
  2. To examine the effects of 'ACT-DE' on diabetes distress and HbA1c (primary outcomes) over a three-month follow-up, when compared with diabetes education only.
  3. To examine the effects of 'ACT-DE' on diabetes self-management behaviours, self-efficacy in diabetes care, and psychological flexibility (secondary outcomes) over the three-month follow-up, when compared with diabetes education; and
  4. To identify the relationships between psychological flexibility and diabetes self-efficacy, diabetes self-management behaviour and HbA1c among the study participants
Read the detailed description

Diabetes distress is an aversive feeling and emotional disturbance specific to diabetes, including the burden of daily self-care, worry and guilty feelings, and low satisfaction level with health care professionals. Around 36% of people with type 2 diabetes worldwide suffered from diabetes distress, which is associated with poor self-care performance, low self-efficacy in diabetes management and higher blood glucose levels. Acceptance and commitment therapy, one of the mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions, integrated with diabetes education are found to be potentially effective interventions for reducing diabetes distress.

A pilot study has been conducted earlier (NCT05563987) and showed that a six-week ACT-DE programme (5 sessions) was preliminary effective compared to attending only one session of diabetes education. It was also a feasible and acceptable intervention.

In this main study, a convenience sampling method will be adopted from three out-patient clinics of public hospitals in Hong Kong. A total of 176 eligible participants will be randomly allocated into the intervention (N=88) and the control group (N=88). Participants in the intervention group will receive 6-week ACT-DE programme (5 sessions) composing acceptance and commitment therapy and diabetes education. Each session last for 120 minutes in a group of 8-10 participants. Participants in the control group will receive one session of diabetes education.

02

Conditions studied

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • Diabetes Education
  • Diabetes Distress
  • HbA1c
  • Psychological Flexibility
  • Diabetes Self-management
  • Diabetes Management Self-efficacy
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong is the lead sponsor of 1,446 studies on the registry; 467 are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 64 Years
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

  • community-dwelling adults Hong Kong Chinese residents,
  • aged 18-64,
  • diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for over one year;
  • at least moderate level of diabetes distress as measured with the Chinese
  • Diabetes Distress Scale (CDDS-15; mean score >2 per item);
  • having suboptimal blood glucose control as shown by HbA1c level of ≥ 7% in the laboratory results within the past six months;
  • able to communicate in Cantonese and give written consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of a clinically diagnosed mental illness such as depression and anxiety disorder, and/or an acute/severe medical disease;
  • noticeable cognitive impairment(s) as indicated by the total score (\<6 of 10) of the Abbreviated Mental Test;
  • recently received/receiving any psychological therapy such as mindfulness or acceptance-based therapy.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
176 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Acceptance and commitment therapy integrated in diabetes education (ACT-DE)

    The proposed intervention is a six-week acceptance-based diabetes education programme (ACT-DE) comprising acceptance and commitment therapy and diabetes education. Session 1: Diabetes education and introduction of ACT-DE programme Session 2: Mindfulness cultivation Session 3: Value clarification Session 4: Integrating ACT into diabetes self-management Session 5: Booster session Session length: 120 minutes Group-based (6-8 participants) and face-to-face mode of delivery

    Behavioral: ACT-DE

  • Placebo comparator
    Diabetes education

    One session of diabetes education, group-based (6-8 participants) and 120 minutes via face-to-face delivery.

    Behavioral: ACT-DE

Interventions

  • BehavioralACT-DE

    Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a third-wave psychological therapy to cultivate participants' acceptance attitude to diabetes and motivate them for a value-driven persistent diabetes self-management, directed by six psychological processes in the ACT hexagonal model, including acceptance, cognitive defusion, the present moment, self-as-context, value clarification and committed action.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline Diabetes Distress Scale at 3 months post intervention

    Diabetes distress will be measured by the Chinese 15-item Diabetes Distress Scale (CDDS-15). It consists of 15 items. rated on a six-point Likert scale from 1 = 'not a problem' to 6 = 'a serious problem'. A mean item score of 2-2.9 and ≥3.0 indicates moderate and severe distress, respectively.

    Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1) and 3-month post-intervention (T2)

  2. Change from baseline HbA1c at 3 months post-intervention

    Blood glucose level of participants will be evaluated with an HbA1c level, which measures the average blood glucose level during the past three months. An HbA1c level over 7% is considered suboptimal glycaemic control, indicating a high risk of diabetes complications.2 HbA1c values obtained every 3-4 months will be collected from the patient electronic information system.

    Time frame: Baseline (T0), and 3-month post-intervention (T2)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Diabetes self-management behaviours

    was measured by the Chinese version of diabetes self-management activities (C-SDSCA). It has 11 items rated on an eight-point Likert scale from 0 to 7, with higher scores indicating more attention to self-management activities.

    Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1) and 3-month post-intervention (T2)

  2. Diabetes management self-efficacy

    was measured by the Chinese version of Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (C-DMSES). The C-DMSES contains 20 items rated on an 11#point Likert scale, in which zero indicates not at all confident, and 10 indicates very confident.

    Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1) and 3-month post-intervention (T2)

  3. Psychological flexibility

    was measured by the Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II Chinese). It contains seven items rated on a seven-point, agreement-based response scale from 1 = 'never true' to 7 = 'always true'. The \- Page 3 of 5 - AAQ-II will be scored by summing all item responses, with higher scale scores indicating a greater psychological inflexibility.

    Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1) and 3-month post-intervention (T2)

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • The Nethersole School of Nursing
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

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 Feb 8, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05584085
Responsible party
Anna Ngan (Principle Investigator, Chinese University of Hong Kong) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 18, 2022
Start date
Oct 15, 2022
Primary completion
Aug 31, 2023 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 30, 2023 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 8, 2023

Study contacts

Anna Ngan, PhD candidate
Contact
annangan@cuhk.edu.hk
+85239434487

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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