title: Surgeons' perceptions on industry relations: A survey of 822 surgeons.
abstract: The relationships between industry and medical professionals are controversial. The purpose of our study was to evaluate surgeons' current opinions regarding the industry-surgery partnership, in addition to self-reported industry ties.
  
  
  
  After institutional review board approval, a survey was sent via RedCap to 3,782 surgeons across the United States. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed to evaluate the responses.
  
  
  
  The response rate was 23%. From the 822 responders, 226 (27%) reported at least one current relationship with industry, while 297 (36.1%) had at least one such relationship within the past 3 years. There was no difference between general surgery versus other surgical specialties (P = .5). Among the general surgery subspecialties, respondents in minimally invasive surgery/foregut had greater ties to industry compared to other subspecialties (P = .001). In addition, midcareer surgeons, male sex, and being on a reviewer/editorial board were associated with having industry ties (P < .05). Most surgeons (71%) believed that the relationships with industry are important for innovation.
  
  
  
  Our study showed that relationships between surgeons and industry are common, because more than a quarter of our responders reported at least one current relationship. Industry relations are perceived as necessary for operative innovation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bariatric, Foregut, and Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY. Electronic address: altieri.m@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Altieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Division of Bariatric, Foregut, and Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY.
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY.
authors.forename: Donglei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Division of Bariatric, Foregut, and Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talamini
authors.affiliation: Division of Bariatric, Foregut, and Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY.
authors.forename: Aurora D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Pryor
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D011641:Public Relations; D013043:Specialties, Surgical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States