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Table 2 Authorship, writing, funding and manufacturer involvement characteristics by group

From: Characterisation of trials where marketing purposes have been influential in study design: a descriptive study

 

All trials

YES trials

MAYBE trials

NO trials

p value (YES vs. MAYBE vs. NO)

p value (YES+ MAYBE vs. NO)

p value (MAYBE + NO vs. YES)

n = 194

n = 41

n = 14

n = 139

Byline author from the product manufacturer?

76 (39)

35 (85)

10 (71)

31 (22)

<.001

<.001

<.001

Median (LQ, UQ) proportion of byline authors from product manufacturer

0 (0, 16)

22 (9, 38)

19 (0, 28)

0 (0, 0)

<.001a

<.001b

<.001b

Byline author reporting a financial conflict of interest with the product manufacturer?c

126 (65)

39 (95)

14 (100)

73 (53)

<.001

<.001

<.001

Median (LQ, UQ) proportion of byline authors reporting COI with product manufacturerc

24 (0, 67)

82 (59, 100)

64 (49, 85)

6 (0, 40)

<.001a

<.001b

<.001b

Group name on the byline

111 (57)

25 (61)

9 (64)

77 (55)

.701

.415

.584

Is writing or editorial assistance in preparing the manuscript acknowledged?

    

.001

<.001

.002

Acknowledgements or main text

75 (39)

25 (61)

9 (64)

41 (30)

   

Professional writer is a byline author

2 (1)

1 (2)

0 (0)

1 (1)

   

No assistance is acknowledged

117 (60)

15 (37)

5 (36)

97 (70)

   

Study explicitly funded by product manufacturer?

106 (55)

41 (100)

14 (100)

51 (37)

<.001

<.001

<.001

Manufacturer involved in the design of the study?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

71 (37)

34 (83)

10 (71)

27 (19)

   

No

96 (50)

4 (10)

2 (14)

90 (65)

   

Not explicitly described

27 (14)

3 (7)

2 (14)

22 (16)

   

Manufacturer involved in the data analysis?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

66 (34)

35 (85)

10 (71)

21 (15)

   

No

106 (55)

4 (10)

3 (21)

99 (71)

   

Not explicitly described

22 (11)

2 (5)

1 (7)

19 (14)

   

Manufacturer involved in the reporting of the study?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

64 (33)

33 (81)

10 (71)

21 (15)

   

No

98 (51)

3 (7)

1 (7)

94 (68)

   

Not explicitly described

32 (17)

5 (12)

3 (21)

24 (17)

   

Manufacturer control over the design of the study?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

24 (12)

14 (34)

3 (21)

7 (5)

   

No

108 (56)

9 (22)

3 (21)

96 (69)

   

Not explicitly described

62 (32)

18 (44)

8 (57)

36 (26)

   

Manufacturer had control over the data analysis?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

39 (20)

23 (56)

5 (36)

11 (8)

   

No

111 (57)

7 (17)

4 (29)

100 (72)

   

Not explicitly described

44 (23)

11 (27)

5 (36)

28 (20)

   

Manufacturer control over reporting of the study?

    

<.001

<.001

<.001

Yes

20 (10)

9 (22)

2 (14)

9 (7)

   

No

111 (57)

11 (27)

4 (29)

96 (69)

   

Not explicitly described

63 (33)

21 (51)

8 (57)

34 (25)

   
  1. Figures in brackets are percents unless specified otherwise.a Kruskal Wallis Test.b Mann Whitney U Test.c n = 3 data not available as links to the COI forms do not work