A cross-sectional study identified undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among physician authors in two leading U.S. psychiatry journals.
Researchers from Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger and Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania reviewed 2,872 original research articles published between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2022, in the American Journal of Psychiatry and JAMA Psychiatry. Of those, 74 articles written by 27 U.S.-based physician authors met inclusion criteria. Authors’ self-disclosed financial relationships were compared with industry payments reported in the federal Open Payments database. Payments not disclosed to the journal — regardless of perceived relevance — were classified as undisclosed.
Here are six things to know:
- Across The American Journal of Psychiatry and JAMA Psychiatry, 27 U.S.-based physician authors received $4.54 million in total industry payments over a three-year period prior to publication.
- Of the total compensation, $645,135 (14.2%) was not disclosed to the publishing journals. Undisclosed payments were more prevalent in JAMA Psychiatry (24.8%) than in The American Journal of Psychiatry (7.5%).
- Research payments accounted for 82.3% of the undisclosed total, with nearly all of these payments (96.2%) going to authors conducting randomized controlled trials.
- The 10 highest-compensated authors received nearly all undisclosed payments. In JAMA Psychiatry, these individuals accounted for 99.6% of undisclosed funds, and in The American Journal of Psychiatry, 84.8%.
- Every author among the top 10 earners received undisclosed payments from pharmaceutical or device companies. Most of these studies focused on depression treatments or psychiatric interventions with commercial potential.
Despite policies mandating disclosure of all financial relationships in the three years prior to submission, many payments went unreported. The American Journal of Psychiatry requires disclosure of all payments; JAMA Psychiatric focuses on relevant activities outside of the submitted work.
