title: Evidence Regarding the Impact of Conflicts of Interest on Environmental and Occupational Health Research.
abstract: This review describes published literature providing evidence for financial conflicts of interest in environmental and occupational health research. Secondary goals were to describe evidence that (a) utilized quantitative methods to evaluate the association of conflicts with study outcomes, and (b) assessed undisclosed as well as disclosed conflicts of interest.
  
  
  
  Forty-three studies were identified which contained descriptions of the impact of financial conflicts of interest on research results; 11 of these conducted quantitative analyses to demonstrate these relationships. All 11 articles which quantified associations identified significant associations of the presence of financial conflicts of interest with study findings. In studies which measured undisclosed conflicts, these comprised a substantial proportion of all conflicts. Suggestions for improving understanding and interpretation of research results are presented.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. wells54@purdue.edu.
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics; D016265:Conflict of Interest / Q000191:economics; D030881:Disclosure / Q000941:ethics; D004782:Environmental Health; D005378:Financial Support / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D014481:United States
keywords: Conflict of interest; Environmental health; Environmental tobacco smoke; Occupational health