PCORI Board approves $29 million for studies of ways to reduce suicide risk, treat type 2 diabetes, remove kidney stones in children, and treat childhood asthma

WASHINGTON, DC — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $29.3 million to fund 11 studies comparing the best ways to prevent or treat a range of health conditions that impose high burdens on patients, caregivers and the healthcare system.  

The Board approved $3.4 million for an Idaho-based project comparing two evidence-based approaches to suicide prevention of varying intensity to determine whether the more intensive intervention is more effective at reducing the risks of suicide and ensuring that people receive appropriate mental health treatment. The Board also approved a $4.2 million University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences project comparing two strategies for diabetes self-management education (DSME) among patients with type 2 diabetes to determine which is more effective among diverse populations. The Family DSME model, which patients attend with their family members, is focused on how behavior change of both the individual and the family can help to manage diabetes, while the Standard DSME model, attended solely by patients, is focused on behavior change of the individual with diabetes.  

The latest funded projects also include:

• A $4.2 million Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia study examining three ways to remove kidney stones in children, one of the fastest-growing health conditions among children, adolescents and young adults. The three approaches are: ureteroscopy (an endoscopic outpatient procedure), shockwave lithotripsy (a noninvasive outpatient procedure) or percutaneous nephrolithotomy (a minimally invasive surgery with a short hospital stay).
• $3.9 million for a Massachusetts-based research project comparing social skills training and cognitive enhancement therapy for improving social and cognitive functioning skills for people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
• A $2.7 million Indiana University study on decision aids for colorectal cancer screening. The project will analyze whether providing patients and their provider personalized messages about the patient’s risk of having an advanced colorectal tissue mass, a cancer or precancerous polyp results in higher screening rates. 
• $2.6 million for a Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine study that aims to identify the best way to reduce asthma triggers in the home and improve asthma outcomes in racial and ethnic minority children living in public housing. The study will compare a strategy of reducing multiple indoor allergens, in accordance with current guidelines, with a strategy of reducing cockroaches alone using a widely available insecticidal bait.

“These latest awards will help to answer significant questions regarding prevention, treatment and delivery of care that are relevant to patients and those who care for them,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “We're pleased to support the research community’s best ideas for studying the important patient-centered questions that these projects aim to answer.”

With these latest awards, PCORI has invested $2.4 billion to fund more than 470 patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER)studies and to support other projects designed to enhance CER methods and the infrastructure necessary to conduct CER rigorously and efficiently. Details of all projects approved for funding by the Board appear on PCORI’s website. All awards were approved pending a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of formal award contracts.

The Board also approved the selection of 23 people to serve on PCORI’s five multi-stakeholder advisory panels.