TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of Financial Conflicts of Interest With Academic Productivity Among Junior Faculty in Hematology and Oncology
AU - Kamath, Suneel D.
AU - Fought, Angela J.
AU - Shaw, Melissa M.
AU - Davis, Andrew A.
N1 - Funding Information:
consultant/advisory role for Exelixis, Tempus, and OncLive. He also has received funding for travel, accommodations, and expenses from the following: AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Foundation Medicine, Guardant Health, Ipsen, and Janssen. AJF has served as a consultant and received research funding from iRhythm Technologies. MMS has no COIs. AAD has had travel expenses paid by Menarini Silicon Biosystems.
Funding Information:
do not report any conflicts of interest. This work was supported by a training grant from the National Center for advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health (uL1 Tr001860). The funding agency was not involved in the study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 UBM Medica Healthcare Publications. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - INTRODUCTION: Financial conflicts of interest (COIs) represent a common and complex issue in hematology and oncology. However, little is known about the timing of when COIs begin to develop during a career trajectory. We evaluated self-reported COIs for junior faculty members at top cancer centers to determine how these financial relationships correlated with measures of academic career productivity. METHODS: We analyzed data from 230 assistant professors at 10 academic cancer centers. Financial COIs were identified from the CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act dollars) database. Self-reported COIs were obtained from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and American Society of Hematology (ASH) disclosures, and from disclosures in recent publications. Number of publications and h-index (defined as the largest number of publications [h] such that h publications each have at least h citations) were used as measures of academic productivity. Scatter plots and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationship between COIs or Sunshine Act dollars with number of publications and h-index. Linear regression modeling was used to analyze the relationships between COIs or Sunshine Act dollars with number of publications and h-index, adjusting for years of experience since completing fellowship (YSF). RESULTS: A total of 46% of junior faculty had at least 1 COI. Number of COIs reported to ASCO/ ASH was positively correlated with total Sunshine Act dollars (Spearman correlation, 0.53; P <.01). The number of COIs and the number of Sunshine Act dollars increased with years in practice (Spearman correlation, 0.38 and 0.25, respectively; P <.01 for both). COIs and Sunshine Act dollars correlated with h-index (Spearman correlation, 0.41 and 0.37, respectively; both P <.01). After adjusting for YSF, linear regression demonstrated that log-transformed h-index and number of publications were associated with Sunshine Act dollars (both P <.01) and COIs (ASCO/ASH) (both P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Financial COIs increased with number of YSF. Measures of academic productivity were positively correlated with COIs (ASCO/ASH) and Sunshine Act dollars. These data suggest that the cultivation of industry relationships is associated with the early academic productivity of junior faculty.
AB - INTRODUCTION: Financial conflicts of interest (COIs) represent a common and complex issue in hematology and oncology. However, little is known about the timing of when COIs begin to develop during a career trajectory. We evaluated self-reported COIs for junior faculty members at top cancer centers to determine how these financial relationships correlated with measures of academic career productivity. METHODS: We analyzed data from 230 assistant professors at 10 academic cancer centers. Financial COIs were identified from the CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act dollars) database. Self-reported COIs were obtained from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and American Society of Hematology (ASH) disclosures, and from disclosures in recent publications. Number of publications and h-index (defined as the largest number of publications [h] such that h publications each have at least h citations) were used as measures of academic productivity. Scatter plots and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationship between COIs or Sunshine Act dollars with number of publications and h-index. Linear regression modeling was used to analyze the relationships between COIs or Sunshine Act dollars with number of publications and h-index, adjusting for years of experience since completing fellowship (YSF). RESULTS: A total of 46% of junior faculty had at least 1 COI. Number of COIs reported to ASCO/ ASH was positively correlated with total Sunshine Act dollars (Spearman correlation, 0.53; P <.01). The number of COIs and the number of Sunshine Act dollars increased with years in practice (Spearman correlation, 0.38 and 0.25, respectively; P <.01 for both). COIs and Sunshine Act dollars correlated with h-index (Spearman correlation, 0.41 and 0.37, respectively; both P <.01). After adjusting for YSF, linear regression demonstrated that log-transformed h-index and number of publications were associated with Sunshine Act dollars (both P <.01) and COIs (ASCO/ASH) (both P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Financial COIs increased with number of YSF. Measures of academic productivity were positively correlated with COIs (ASCO/ASH) and Sunshine Act dollars. These data suggest that the cultivation of industry relationships is associated with the early academic productivity of junior faculty.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124925517&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.46883/2022.25920948
DO - 10.46883/2022.25920948
M3 - Article
C2 - 35180340
AN - SCOPUS:85124925517
SN - 0890-9091
SP - 84
EP - 91
JO - ONCOLOGY (United States)
JF - ONCOLOGY (United States)
IS - 3602
ER -