Abstract
Background
Industry and orthopaedic surgeons often partner to develop new technology, which can lead to orthopaedic surgeons having financial conflicts of interest (FCOI). It is essential these FCOI be conveyed clearly to patients. It is unclear, however, whether and to what degree patients understand the ramifications of physician FCOI.
Questions/purposes
We evaluated (1) patients’ concerns regarding their surgeon having FCOI or the presence of institutional FCOI, (2) the effect of surgeon FCOI on patients’ willingness to have surgery, and (3) patients’ understanding of FCOI.
Methods
We asked 101 patients (66% female) receiving total joint arthroplasty from the orthopaedic practices of two surgeons at an academic health center to complete a descriptive, correlational designed survey at their 6-week followup appointment. The data collected included patient demographics, knowledge of FCOI, and the influence of FCOI on patient attitudes toward surgery and their surgeon.
Results
A minority of patients (13%) reported discussing FCOI with prior physicians and only 55% agreed or strongly agreed a surgeon should disclose FCOI. Only 15% of patients believed such conflicts would make them less likely to have their surgeon operate on them. Level of education was weakly correlated (Spearman’s rho = 0.29) with patient understanding of FCOI.
Conclusions
Overall, patients had a poor understanding of FCOI. Both level of education and previous discussions of FCOI predicted better understanding. This study emphasizes communication of FCOI with patients needs to be enhanced.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mark P. Cote DPT, MSCTR, for his contribution to this study.
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The institution of one or more of the authors (JRL, MJP, RRL, GGP) has received, during the study period, funding from the NIH, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (Edison, NJ, USA), and Amgen Inc (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA). Each author certifies that he or she, or a member of his or her immediate family, has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request.
Each author certifies that his or her institution approved or waived approval for the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.
This study was performed at University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA.
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Lieberman, J.R., Pensak, M.J., Kelleher, M.S. et al. Disclosure of Financial Conflicts of Interest: An Evaluation of Orthopaedic Surgery Patients’ Understanding. Clin Orthop Relat Res 471, 472–477 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2525-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2525-y