# Meta-analysis of Individual Patient Data for PTSD/AODs

> **NIH NIH R01** · RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE · 2021 · $439,238

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Two decades of literature clearly document the wide scope of problems associated with post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD)/alcohol and other drug use disorder (AOD) comorbidity. Evidence-based treatments,
including present-focused trauma therapies, past-focused trauma therapies, and pharmacotherapies paired
with trauma-focused (TF) or non-trauma focused (NTF) cognitive-behavioral therapies, are available for
comorbid PTSD/AODs. However, the state of the science of PTSD/AOD treatment—based on single and
multiple-site randomized controlled trials (RCTs), literature reviews, and meta-analyses—leaves the
research community unable to make definitive practice and policy recommendations about (1) comparative
effectiveness across PTSD/AOD treatments, (2) optimal treatments for different types of patients (e.g., men
vs. women, civilians vs. veterans), and (3) and whether changes in PTSD, anxiety and depression mediate
treatment effects on AODs differently depending on treatment type.
 The proposed study, which we call a virtual multisite clinical trial (VCT), will combine data from 50
PTSD/AOD treatment studies that we currently have in hand (total N = 4544), using three measurement and
data analysis frameworks that have emerged across multiple independent disciplines: meta-analysis of
individual patient data, integrative data analysis, and propensity score weighting specific to
moderation and mediation analysis. Using these frameworks, we propose the following Aims:
Aim 1: Develop scale scores of PTSD and AOD severity in the presence of study-level measurement non-
invariance.
Aim 2: Compare the efficacy of evidence-based treatment models for comorbid PTSD and AODs.
Aim 3: Test for potential mediators of treatment effects on AODs across treatment models.
Aim 4: Explore individual- and study-level moderators to inform for whom each of the treatment models
 works best.
The project will yield the most definitive recommendations to date regarding optimal treatments for various
types of patients across PTSD/AOD treatment settings. Our VCT approach will yield a synergy across
PTSD/AOD treatment studies that will be greater than the sum of the constituent RCT parts, in a manner that
would be cost- and effort-prohibitive for an analogous 50-site, multiple-treatment-arm RCT.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10172799
- **Project number:** 5R01AA025853-04
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** DENISE AIMEE HIEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $439,238
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10172799

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10172799, Meta-analysis of Individual Patient Data for PTSD/AODs (5R01AA025853-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10172799. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*