WASHINGTON, DC (April 30, 2018) -- The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $10 million to fund two new comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for pregnant women with opioid use disorders.
The prevalence of opioid use disorders (OUD) has increased dramatically among pregnant women in parallel with the current opioid epidemic. MAT, which combines maintenance medication (methadone or buprenorphine) with psychosocial services, is an evidence-based, clinically effective treatment for pregnant women with OUD. Compared to methadone, buprenorphine has a more favorable safety profile and improved birth outcomes, including reduced incidence and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome.
These studies focus on strategies to identify the most effective ways to provide the best care and support to expectant and new mothers with opioid use disorder, to improve outcomes for both mothers and their infant children. The newly approved awards are:
"We clearly need more evidence-based information about more effective ways to treat addiction," said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. "We at PCORI are working to address a number of gaps in the field of opioid research, such as treatments for vulnerable populations like pregnant women, as well as nonopioid treatment options for pain management and strategies to help patients understand the risks and benefits of opioids."
To date, PCORI has invested $252 million in 65 patient-centered CER studies on substance use disorders and pain management. These include 13 studies specifically focused on opioid use.
Details of all studies approved by the Board can be found on PCORI's website. The new awards were approved pending a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of formal award contracts. With these latest awards, PCORI has invested $2.1 billion to fund more than 400 patient-centered CER studies and to support other projects designed to enhance CER methods and the infrastructure necessary to conduct CER rigorously and efficiently.
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