title: Prevalence of financial conflicts of interest among panel members producing clinical practice guidelines in Canada and United States: cross sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of financial conflicts of interest among members of panels producing clinical practice guidelines on screening, treatment, or both for hyperlipidaemia or diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant guidelines published by national organisations in the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Members of guideline panels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prevalence of financial conflicts of interest among members of guideline panels and chairs of panels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen guidelines met our search criteria, of which five had no accompanying declaration of conflicts of interest by panel members. 288 panel members had participated in the guideline development process. Among the 288 panel members, 138 (48%) reported conflicts of interest at the time of the publication of the guideline and 150 (52%) either stated that they had no such conflicts or did not have an opportunity to declare any. Among 73 panellists who formally declared no conflicts, 8 (11%) were found to have one or more. Twelve of the 14 guideline panels evaluated identified chairs, among whom six had financial conflicts of interest. Overall, 150 (52%) panel members had conflicts, of which 138 were declared and 12 were undeclared. Panel members from government sponsored guidelines were less likely to have conflicts of interest compared with guidelines sponsored by non-government sources (15/92 (16%) v 135/196 (69%); P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of financial conflicts of interest and their under-reporting by members of panels producing clinical practice guidelines on hyperlipidaemia or diabetes was high, and a relatively high proportion of guidelines did not have public disclosure of conflicts of interest. Organisations that produce guidelines should minimise conflicts of interest among panel members to ensure the credibility and evidence based nature of the guidelines' content.
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, Box 1057, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Neuman
authors: Deborah
authors: D
authors: Korenstein
authors: Joseph S
authors: JS
authors: Ross
authors: Salomeh
authors: S
authors: Keyhani
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D032802:Committee Membership; D016265:Conflict of Interest / Q000191:economics*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis; D030881:Disclosure / Q000941:ethics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004345:Drug Industry; D005378:Financial Support / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000175:diagnosis; D008403:Mass Screening; D057766:Policy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015995:Prevalence; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States