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Stigma, Self-management, & Quality of Life in SCD

Understanding the Intersection of Stigma and Self-Management of Sickle Cell Disease

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03488264
Acronym
SSQ
Enrollment
102
Registered
2018-04-04
Start date
2018-02-13
Completion date
2018-10-27
Last updated
2019-04-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Disease Self-Management, Quality of Life, Sickle Cell Disease, Stigma, Social

Brief summary

Many individuals with sickle cell disease experience both a poor quality of life and stigma. Individuals with SCD often experience high levels of stigma which can be a barrier to good self-management and hinder quality of life. The purpose of this research is to improve understanding of the relationships between stigma, self-management, and quality of life in SCD in the United States and Jamaica. The findings from this project will contribute to the development of a tool to measure self-management strategies and will also guide the development of interventions to improve SCD self-management.

Detailed description

The goal of the proposed study is to explore the complex relationships between perceived stigma, demographic and clinical characteristics, sickle cell disease (SCD) self-management strategies, and quality of life (QoL) in adults with SCD in the United States (US) and Jamaica, countries with important differences relevant to this study. Proposed is a cross sectional study that will use a convergent parallel mixed methods design (individual interviews and self-report surveys). Participants will be interviewed about SCD self-management strategies and how sources of stigma influence these strategies. Quantitative measures will be used to assess perceived stigma \[SCD Health-Related Stigma Scale (SCD-HRSS)\] and QoL \[Adult Sickle Cell Quality of Life Measures (ASCQ-Me): emotional impact, pain episodes, pain impact, sleep impact, social functioning impact, and stiffness impact; disease severity\]. The primary outcome of the study is stigma and the secondary outcome is QoL(emotional impact, pain episodes, pain impact, sleep impact, social functioning impact, and stiffness impact; disease severity). The specific aims of this study are to: Aim 1: Determine the influences of perceived stigma and demographic and clinical characteristics on SCD self-management and QoL in adults with SCD in the US and Jamaica. Question 1: What are the influences of perceived stigma and demographic and clinical characteristics on SCD self-management? Question 2: What are the influences of perceived stigma and demographic and clinical characteristics on QoL? Aim 2: Describe the relationship between SCD self-management strategies and QoL.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

Duke University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. at least 18 years of age, 2. ability to understand English, 3. diagnosis of SCD based on one of the following genotypes (ICD-10-CM code): HbSS (D57.0-D57.02), HbSC (D57.2-57.21), Hb SS/Bthalassemia+ or Hb SS/a-thalassemia- (D57.1, D57.4-D57.41, D57.8-D57.819).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Health-Related Stigma10 minutesThe Sickle Cell Disease Health-Related Stigma Scale (SCD-HRSS) will assess stigma. SCD-HRSS has 4 subscales that measure stigma from the public, doctors, nurses, and family; and consists of 40 items on a 6 point Likert scale. It is scored by obtaining the sum of the mean score of the four subscales (subscales: 10-60; total scale: 40-240). Higher scores indicate higher perceived stigma.
Disease-related Stigma5 minutesThe Measure of Sickle Cell Stigma (MoSCS) will assess stigma. MoSCS consists of 11-items with 4 subscales assessing social exclusion, internalized stigma, disclosure concerns, and expected discrimination. It is measured on a 6 point Likert scale; scores range from 6-36 and are obtained by summing and averaging the total scale. Higher scores indicate higher perceived stigma.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain episodes2-3 minutesScore on ASCQ-Me Pain episodes - For pain episodes separate composite scores are calculated for pain frequency (0-11) and severity (0-22). Higher scores indicate worse health status.
Pain impact2-3 minutesScore on ASCQ-Me Pain impact - Raw scores for this scale ranges 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.
Sleep impact2-3 minutesScore on ASCQ-Me Sleep impact - Raw scores for this scale ranges 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.
Quality of life14-21 minutesQuality of life will be measured using Adult Sickle Cell Quality of life Measures (ASCQ-Me) subscales for emotional impact, pain episodes, pain impact, sleep impact, social functioning impact, and stiffness impact. For pain episodes separate composite scores are calculated for pain frequency (0-11) and severity (0-22). Higher scores indicate worse health status. Raw scores for the remaining scales range 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.
Stiffness impact2-3 minutesScore on the ASCQ-Me stiffness impact - Raw scores for this scale ranges 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.
Disease Severity2-3 minutesThe ASCQ-Me Medical History Checklist (SCD-MHC) contains 9 items that list treatments and conditions associated with SCD (leg ulcers, avascular necrosis) that are scored dichotomously (0-9) with higher scores indicating higher disease severity.
Social functioning impact2-3 minutesScore on ASCQ-Me Social functioning impact - Raw scores for this scale ranges 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.
Emotional impact2-3 minutesScore on the ASCQ-Me Emotional Impact - Raw scores for this scale ranges 5-25 and are developed by using T-Score transformation to standardize raw scores to have a mean of 50 (indicates an average health score on the scale) and standard deviation of 10 (represents one SD). Higher scores indicate healthier status.

Countries

Jamaica, United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026