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Table 3 Adherence to the 11 preferred practices stratified by trial stage and funding

From: Investigator experiences with financial conflicts of interest in clinical trials

Practices

Trial Funding

 

Overall

Non-industry

Industry

Adherence to preferred practice (Non-industry vs. Industry)

 

(N = 700)

(N = 646) *

(N = 460)†

 
 

n(%)

n(%)

n(%)

 

Trial Preparation Stage

Signed contracts reviewed by institution ‡

    

   Signed contracts

458

262

376

 

No trials

13(3)

10(4)

10(3)

 

Some trials

39(9)

21(8)

18(5)

 

All trials §

374(82)

191(73)

330(88)

Similar

Not sure

22(5)

32(12)

12(3)

 

Did not answer

10(2)

8(3)

6(2)

 

Signed contracts have restrictive confidentiality clauses ‡

    

   Signed contracts

458

262

376

 

No trials §

54(12)

48(18)

28(7)

Similar

Some trials

99(22)

35(13)

58(15)

 

All trials

201(44)

77(29)

212(56)

 

Not sure

94(21)

94(36)

72(19)

 

Did not answer

10(2)

8(3)

6(2)

 

Budgetary reviewed by a research ethics board or institution official

    

   No trials

39(6)

49(8)

22(5)

 

   Some trials

92(13)

56(9)

28(6)

 

   All trials §

523(75)

487(75)

386(84)

Similar

   Not sure

28(4)

38(6)

18(4)

 

   Did not answer

18(3)

16(2)

6(1)

 

Trials registered in trial registry since 2005

    

   No trials

50(7)

56(9)

36(8)

 

   Some trials

221(32)

173(27)

69(15)

 

   All trials §

274(39)

254(39)

141(31)

Similar

   Not sure

140(20)

138(21)

193(42)

 

   Did not answer

15(2)

25(4)

21(5)

 

Trial Conduct Stage

Funder owns study data

    

   No trials §

258(37)

394(61)

52(11)

Higher in non-industry

   Some trials

221(32)

42(7)

114(25)

 

   All trials

107(15)

68(11)

172(37)

 

   Not sure

87(12)

119(18)

114(25)

 

   Did not answer

27(4)

23(3)

8(2)

 

Investigator has access to data from all sites

    

   No trials

80(11)

69(11)

61(13)

 

   Some trials

191(27)

94(15)

108(23)

 

   All trials §

265(38)

306(47)

99(22)

Higher in non-industry

   Not sure

132(19)

147(23)

181(39)

 

   Did not answer

32(5)

30(5)

11(2)

 

Funder controls final decisions regarding:

   Study design

    

No trials §

247(35)

366(57)

78(17)

Higher in non-industry

Some trials

228(33)

46(7)

112(24)

 

All trials

141(20)

118(18)

179(39)

 

Not sure

63(9)

98(15)

84(18)

 

Did not answer

21(3)

18(3)

7(2)

 

   Data analysis

    

No trials §

276(39)

397(61)

92(20)

Higher in non-industry

Some trials

222(32)

37(6)

114(25)

 

All trials

120(17)

109(17)

155(34)

 

Not sure

61(9)

85(13)

92(20)

 

Did not answer

21(3)

18(3)

7(2)

 

   Data interpretation

    

No trials §

300(43)

404(63)

103(22)

Higher in non-industry

Some trials

207(30)

36(6)

111(24)

 

All trials

106(15)

106(16)

126(27)

 

Not sure

66(9)

82(13)

113(25)

 

Did not answer

21(3)

18(3)

7(2)

 

Trial Dissemination Stage

Funder controls final decision on content of submitted manuscripts

    

   No trials §

368(53)

445(69)

124(27)

Higher in non-industry

   Some trials

168(24)

37(6)

100(22)

 

   All trials

49(7)

41(6)

70(15)

 

   Not sure

88(13)

100(15)

157(34)

 

   Did not answer

27(4)

23(4)

9(2)

 

Completed manuscripts has ghost authorship

    

   No trials §

450(64)

478(74)

147(32)

Higher in non-industry

   Some trials

100(14)

35(5)

75(16)

 

   All trials

5(1)

4(1)

8(2)

 

   Not sure

117(17)

104(16)

220(48)

 

   Did not answer

28(4)

25(4)

10(2)

 
  1. Notes:
  2. * 646 investigators included 406 who had experience in both industry funding and non-industry funding trials and 240 who only had experience in non-industry funding trials. We defined non-industry funding as support from a government agency, hospital, university, or other non-profit source (e.g., a federal granting organization) and industry funding as support from a private for-profit corporation (e.g., pharmaceutical company).
  3. † 460 investigators included 406 who had experience in both industry funding and non-industry funding trials and 54 who only had experience in industry funding trials.
  4. ‡ Question was related to 458 investigators who had signed contracts.
  5. § Rows indicated the proportion of investigators that reported full adherence to the specific preferred trial practice in all of their trials experience