When heart failure occurs or gets worse suddenly, it’s called acute heart failure, or AHF. In a PCORI-funded study led by Sean Collins, MD, MSc, at Vanderbilt University, researchers tested whether a self-care program with a coach supported patients with AHF after they left the emergency room more than usual care supported them. After 30 days, patients in the self-care program had fewer AHF-related deaths and visits to the emergency room, hospital, or clinic, and had higher ratings of their health than those who received usual care. However, these improvements did not hold 90 days after hospitalization. These results are explored in a paper in JAMA Cardiology.

Fatigue is one of the most common problems among patients living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Three drugs—amantadine, modafinil, and methylphenidate—are commonly prescribed for reducing fatigue in patients with MS, but conclusive evidence for their effectiveness is lacking. As published in Lancet Neurology, a PCORI-funded study led by Bardia Nourbakhsh, MD, at Johns Hopkins University found that these three drugs were no more effective in reducing fatigue in a group of nearly 170 patients with MS than a placebo pill.