TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationship between academic influence, NIH funding, and industry payments among academic shoulder and elbow surgeons
AU - Haislup, Brett D.
AU - Trent, Sarah
AU - Sequeira, Sean
AU - Murthi, Anand M.
AU - Wright, Melissa A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Technological advancements made through industry-sponsored research and federal funding play an important role in the field of orthopedic surgery. 9 , 12 In 2010, the Sunshine Act was passed, making all industry payments to physicians accessible to the public through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 9 , 12 After the implementation of this law, studies performed on the financial relationship between orthopedic surgeons and industry revealed that orthopedic surgeons are paid more than most specialties by private companies. 13 In 2015, the top 10% of orthopedic surgeons receiving industry payments received at least $4160 per year, with royalties and patent licenses accounted for 69% of all industry payments to orthopedic surgeons. 13 In 2018, Buerba et al 4 found that 78% of orthopedic surgeons received industry payment of some type, including royalty payments, consulting fees, and research payments. In the same year, only 0.9% of orthopedic surgeons received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for research. Grant funding from the NIH is far more limited and is extremely difficult to obtain compared with industry funding, leading orthopedic surgeons to frequently use industry funding in orthopedic research. 14
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Background: The effect of academic influence, or the volume and quality of a surgeon's publications, on industry payments and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding has recently been studied in some academic orthopedic subspecialities. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between academic influence, industry payments, and NIH funding among American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons accredited shoulder and elbow fellowship faculty. Methods: Shoulder and elbow fellowships and affiliated faculty members were identified from the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons website. Academic influence, measured by the Hirsch (h)-index, and the number of articles published were determined for faculty members using the Scopus Database Author Identifier tool. Industry payments were derived from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database. NIH funding was determined using the NIH's Research Portfolio Online Reporting tool. Statistical analysis used Spearman correlations and the Mann-Whitney U-test with an alpha value of 0.05 (P < .05). Results: A total of 146 faculty members were included. Twenty-two percent (42 of 146) received nonresearch payments, whereas 78% (114 of 146) received industry research funding averaging $6364 (standard deviation = $21,213). NIH funding averaged $272,589 (standard deviation = $224,635), and 5% received NIH funding (7 of 146). Faculty members who received NIH funding had a higher average h-index than those who did not (38 ± 22 vs. 22.64 ± 22.7, P = .02), whereas those receiving industry research payments had a greater number of publications than those who did not (127.97 ± 127.2 vs. 100.3 ± 122.3, P = .03). Industry nonresearch payments did not impact the number of publications or the h-index. Discussion/Conclusion: This study demonstrated that academic influence among academic shoulder and elbow surgeons is not greater in those who receive nonresearch industry funding. However, surgeons with industry research funding did produce more publications, whereas NIH funding is associated with greater academic influence.
AB - Background: The effect of academic influence, or the volume and quality of a surgeon's publications, on industry payments and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding has recently been studied in some academic orthopedic subspecialities. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between academic influence, industry payments, and NIH funding among American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons accredited shoulder and elbow fellowship faculty. Methods: Shoulder and elbow fellowships and affiliated faculty members were identified from the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons website. Academic influence, measured by the Hirsch (h)-index, and the number of articles published were determined for faculty members using the Scopus Database Author Identifier tool. Industry payments were derived from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database. NIH funding was determined using the NIH's Research Portfolio Online Reporting tool. Statistical analysis used Spearman correlations and the Mann-Whitney U-test with an alpha value of 0.05 (P < .05). Results: A total of 146 faculty members were included. Twenty-two percent (42 of 146) received nonresearch payments, whereas 78% (114 of 146) received industry research funding averaging $6364 (standard deviation = $21,213). NIH funding averaged $272,589 (standard deviation = $224,635), and 5% received NIH funding (7 of 146). Faculty members who received NIH funding had a higher average h-index than those who did not (38 ± 22 vs. 22.64 ± 22.7, P = .02), whereas those receiving industry research payments had a greater number of publications than those who did not (127.97 ± 127.2 vs. 100.3 ± 122.3, P = .03). Industry nonresearch payments did not impact the number of publications or the h-index. Discussion/Conclusion: This study demonstrated that academic influence among academic shoulder and elbow surgeons is not greater in those who receive nonresearch industry funding. However, surgeons with industry research funding did produce more publications, whereas NIH funding is associated with greater academic influence.
KW - academic influence
KW - academic shoulder and elbow surgery
KW - Cross-Sectional Design
KW - education
KW - Fellowship
KW - funding
KW - Internet Sources
KW - research
KW - Survey Study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139819117&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jse.2022.06.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jse.2022.06.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 35932996
AN - SCOPUS:85139819117
SN - 1058-2746
VL - 31
SP - 2431
EP - 2436
JO - Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
JF - Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
IS - 11
ER -