PCORI Approves $57 Million in Funding for 14 Research Studies

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors has approved $57 million in funding for 14 clinical effectiveness research studies. The funds will support studies for a range of conditions and problems that impose high burdens on patients, caregivers, and the healthcare system, said PCORI.

The funding includes $32 million for 3 large-scale pragmatic clinical studies focused on producing results that are broadly applicable to a wide variety of patients and care:

• A study based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that compares the effectiveness of health system-based versus community-based strategies to support caregivers and individuals with dementia. Reseachers will determine which is more effective at keeping people in their homes and reducing caregiver stress and depression.
• A project at the University of Florida comparing 2 forms of radiation therapy for prostate cancer: traditional X-ray therapy, known as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and a newer treatment, called proton therapy. Researchers will assess the 2 treatments’ effects on cure rates, bowel and bladder damage rates, and side effects.
• A study by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health comparing 3 interventions for increasing human papillomavirus vaccine use among Latino populations: a clinic-based approach that trains staff on discussing the vaccine with patients and their parents; a parent-based approach focused on strategies to notify and encourage parents outside the clinic, such as text reminders; and a combined clinic-based and parent-based approach.

“Like all of our pragmatic clinical studies, these new awards will help answer significant questions regarding treatment and delivery of care that are important to patients and those who care for them,” Joe Selby, MD, MPH, executive director of PCORI, said in a statement. “These large studies feature the engagement of stakeholder groups on the research team and have been judged as having a high potential to change practice and improve patients’ outcomes.”

Additional studies that will receive funding include:

• A University of Washington project comparing 2 approaches to the care of trauma survivors: a collaborative-care intervention that includes frontline trauma staff and peer support; and an intervention where staff collaborate with mental health consultation.
• A randomized controlled study at the Georgetown University Medical Center focused on the comparative effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction and pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders.
• A Fenway Community Health Center project working to improve the health of sexual- and gender-minority patients by comparing patient outcomes and satisfaction before and after clinicians participate in a cultural competence and skill training program.
• A study from RTI International that will determine whether health systems can improve rates of retention of patients with substance abuse treatment and patient outcomes by applying a systematic approach to matching patients with addiction treatment developed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, instead of traditional medicines.