The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is inviting proposals for new studies and implementation projects through 11 funding opportunities. Among these is a funding opportunity for comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies focused on sleep health.

The sleep health research funding opportunity is among two PCORI Funding Announcements (PFAs) focused on topic themes approved by PCORI’s board of governors to guide the organization’s funding for several funding cycles. The sleep health funding opportunity concentrates on sleep health with an emphasis on high-need or underserved populations, such as shift workers and individuals with multiple chronic conditions. The second topic theme-focused PFA focuses on cardiovascular health.

“We are very pleased to issue these first funding announcements focused specifically on two of PCORI’s topic themes as the organization continues to advance progress on its National Priorities for Health,” says PCORI executive director Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH, in a release. “The topic themes entail challenges ripe for patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research and creativity in study designs.”

For sleep health submissions, PCORI is particularly interested in those that address the following areas of emphasis:

  1. Promoting sleep health equity: Historically underserved and disenfranchised populations experience poorer sleep health than the general population and often lack access to adequate screening for and treatment of sleep disorders. PCORI is interested in studies comparing strategies to enhance access to efficacious screening and/or treatment for sleep disorders and to promote sleep health. Studies could include cultural tailoring as appropriate for specific populations.
  2. Chronic conditions co-occurring with sleep disturbances: Sleep can be impacted by interventions designed to address chronic conditions co-occurring with sleep disturbances. PCORI is interested in studies of the effectiveness of interventions addressing health conditions such as obesity, mental health disorders (eg, anxiety), and substance use disorders on the outcomes of sleep disorders (eg, OSA and insomnia).
  3. Focus on sleep health beyond diagnosed sleep disorders: Poor sleep can negatively impact physical and mental health in individuals without a diagnosed sleep disorder. PCORI is interested in studies comparing interventions designed for individuals with short or irregular sleep duration, irregular sleep-wake schedules, or otherwise disrupted sleep. Studies could focus on improving sleep health using technology-based interventions, clinical or care delivery interventions (eg, improving provider assessment of sleep health), and/or addressing social needs with documented impact on sleep health, among other approaches.

In this latest cycle of funding, PCORI is offering up to $610 million for patient-centered CER studies that compare health care options to generate evidence that helps patients and those who care for them make better-informed decisions.

Beyond the two topical funding announcements, six additional CER funding opportunities offer research teams the opportunity to submit applications that align with any of PCORI’s topic themes or other topics that address one or more of PCORI’s National Priorities for Health, a comprehensive set of mutually reinforcing goals to address the health and healthcare challenges facing the nation.

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