Study comparing stroke therapies receives $2 million national research grant

An American Heart Association/American Stroke Association sponsored study comparing which stroke therapies work best has received a $2 million research award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

The study – Patient-Centered Outcomes Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER) – will compare the effectiveness of common stroke therapies, including anticoagulants, statins and antidepressants.

Researchers will use data from the association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke registry, linked with Medicare claims for long-term outcomes.

“We’ll look at the full range of benefits or harms of these therapies among stroke survivors,” said Adrian Hernandez, M.D., lead researcher of the project and associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. “Once a patient has a stroke, the major goals are recovery and prevention of another stroke. But we still don’t know a lot about the specific benefits and risks of these common therapies, especially among stroke survivors 65 years and older, women and minorities. This study aims to address these treatment gaps by partnering with stroke survivors.”

Hernandez is director of outcomes and faculty associate director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, which will oversee the research.

The three-year stroke study is one of 71 projects totaling more than $114 million approved by PCORI this month. Scientists, patients, caregivers and other stakeholders helped evaluate the scientific merit of more than 570 proposals, how well they engage patients and other stakeholders, their methodological rigor and how well they fit within PCORI’s national research priorities.