Yermal Jyothika, Costa Gabriel P, Weleff Jeremy, Koomson Wilhemina, Barnett Brian S, Anand Akhil
School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, USA.
School of Medicine, University of Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, BRA.
Cureus. 2025 Apr 14;17(4):e82227. doi: 10.7759/cureus.82227. eCollection 2025 Apr.
Objectives This study aims to analyze all funding awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) for opioid use disorder (OUD) clinical trials during the opioid epidemic and investigate whether there exist a difference in funding based on gender of principal investigators (PIs) and the wave of the opioid epidemic during which the trial began. Methods NIH-funded clinical trials related to OUD during the opioid epidemic between March 1, 1997, and February 28, 2023, were extracted from ClinicalTrials.gov and NIH RePORTER. Data extracted from each project included grant type, grant category, grant funding amount, and the PI's affiliation, academic rank, highest degrees, and gender. Non-parametric statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis testing to investigate for discrepancies in NIH funding between genders and waves of the opioid epidemic. Results A total of 197 trials were identified as funded during the opioid epidemic, for a total of $1,646,512,558. Of the grants, 85.8% (N=169) were awarded during the third wave of the opioid epidemic; they received a median of $2,482,291 per year, significantly more than the second wave (p=0.0045). Male PIs (54.3%, N=107) received the highest number of grants, but they did not receive significantly more funding compared to female PIs (p=0.8646). A statistically significant difference in funding between the waves (p=0.0015) was found, with projects starting during the third wave receiving more average yearly funding (N=169) than the first two waves (N=28). Conclusion NIH funding amount and number of projects funded increased throughout the third wave of the opioid epidemic, potentially due to increased NIH initiatives during this time. Unlike other documented trends outlining disparities in funding between male and female researchers in academic medicine, there was no statistical difference in funding for clinical trials during the opioid epidemic. Further analysis is needed to ensure a diverse research landscape and determine areas for future improvement.
目的 本研究旨在分析美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）在阿片类药物流行期间为阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）临床试验授予的所有资金，并调查根据主要研究者（PI）的性别以及试验开始时阿片类药物流行的阶段，资金是否存在差异。方法 从ClinicalTrials.gov和NIH RePORTER中提取1997年3月1日至2023年2月28日阿片类药物流行期间NIH资助的与OUD相关的临床试验。从每个项目中提取的数据包括资助类型、资助类别、资助金额以及PI的所属机构、学术职级、最高学位和性别。使用Kruskal-Wallis检验进行非参数统计分析，以调查NIH在不同性别和阿片类药物流行阶段之间的资金差异。结果 在阿片类药物流行期间，共确定了197项获得资助的试验，总计1646512558美元。在这些资助中，85.8%（N = 169）是在阿片类药物流行的第三阶段授予的；它们每年获得的资金中位数为2482291美元，显著高于第二阶段（p = 0.0045）。男性PI（54.3%，N = 107）获得的资助数量最多，但与女性PI相比，他们获得的资金并没有显著更多（p = 0.8646）。发现不同阶段之间的资金存在统计学上的显著差异（p = 0.0015），第三阶段开始的项目（N = 169）比前两个阶段（N = 28）获得的平均年度资金更多。结论 在阿片类药物流行的第三阶段，NIH的资助金额和资助项目数量有所增加，这可能是由于在此期间NIH的举措增多。与其他记录学术医学领域男女研究人员资金差异的趋势不同，在阿片类药物流行期间，临床试验资金没有统计学差异。需要进一步分析以确保研究领域的多样性，并确定未来改进的方向。
