The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in Washington, D.C., has announced grants totaling $65.7 million in support of half a dozen large patient-centered pragmatic clinical studies, which are conducted in typical clinical settings rather than in specialized research centers and involve participants who more closely mirror typical patients.

Four grants totaling $56.7 million will support studies comparing the safety and effectiveness of antibiotics versus surgery in treating patients with uncomplicated appendicitis; the safety and effectiveness of three blood-thinning drugs used to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in patients undergoing hip and knee replacement; different approaches to getting patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar depression the mental health care they need; and two strategies for getting patients in rural and underserved areas the behavioral health care.

PCORI also awarded $9 million in support of two obesity studies — one that will evaluate the efficacy of weight loss surgery and a second that will examine weight gain caused by antibiotic use among young children. The studies are the latest to demonstrate the capacity of PCORnet, the national clinical research network being developed by PCORI.

In addition, the institute announced two new research programs that will offer up to $30 million each in support of comparative clinical effectiveness studies on the use of new anticoagulant drugs and care for treatment-resistant depression. Each study will involve national advocacy organizations, major professional societies and associations, payers, and other key patient and stakeholder groups in their design and implementation.

"These studies will answer important patient-centered questions that matter to patients and those who care for them," said PCORI executive director Joe Selby. "They will do so in a way that their results will be more immediately and directly relevant to all patients with these conditions and who need the information to make better-informed decisions about their healthcare options."