TY - JOUR
T1 - Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Guidelines
T2 - Update of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Policies and Procedures
AU - Ngo-Metzger, Quyen
AU - Moyer, Virginia
AU - Grossman, David
AU - Ebell, Mark H.
AU - Woo, Meghan
AU - Miller, Therese
AU - Brummer, Tana
AU - Chowdhury, Joya
AU - Kato, Elisabeth
AU - Siu, Albert
AU - Phillips, William
AU - Davidson, Karina
AU - Phipps, Maureen
AU - Bibbins-Domingo, Kirsten
N1 - Funding Information:
The USPSTF also increased the look-back period to 3 years from the start of a topic, as 12 months was felt to be too short a period to adequately reflect professional activities that might create potential COI. Two exceptions were made to the 3-year limit. First, the limit on the look-back period was eliminated for scientific publications related to USPSTF topics under review, meaning that any publication published at any time that is related to a USPSTF topic is required to be disclosed. Second, the period of disclosure for research grants received was set at 36 months from the end of the grant period.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) provides independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous recommendations for clinical preventive services. A primary concern is to avoid even the appearance of members having special interests that might influence their ability to judge evidence and formulate unbiased recommendations. The conflicts of interest policy for the USPSTF is described, as is the formal process by which best practices were incorporated to update the policy. The USPSTF performed a literature review, conducted key informant interviews, and reviewed conflicts of interest policies of ten similar organizations. Important findings included transparency and public accessibility; full disclosure of financial relationships; disclosure of non-financial relationships (that create the potential for bias and compromise a member's objective judgment); disclosure of family members’ conflicts of interests; and establishment of appropriate reporting periods. Controversies in best practices include the threshold of financial disclosures, ease of access to conflicts of interest policies and declarations, vague definition of non-financial biases, and request for family members’ conflicts of interests (particularly those that are non-financial in nature). The USPSTF conflicts of interest policy includes disclosures for immediate family members, a clear non-financial conflicts of interest definition, long look-back period and application of the policy to prospective members. Conflicts of interest is solicited from all members every 4 months, formally reviewed, adjudicated, and made publicly available. The USPSTF conflicts of interest policy is publicly available as part of the USPSTF Procedure Manual. A continuous improvement process can be applied to conflicts of interest policies to enhance public trust in members of panels, such as the USPSTF, that produce clinical guidelines and recommendations.
AB - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) provides independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous recommendations for clinical preventive services. A primary concern is to avoid even the appearance of members having special interests that might influence their ability to judge evidence and formulate unbiased recommendations. The conflicts of interest policy for the USPSTF is described, as is the formal process by which best practices were incorporated to update the policy. The USPSTF performed a literature review, conducted key informant interviews, and reviewed conflicts of interest policies of ten similar organizations. Important findings included transparency and public accessibility; full disclosure of financial relationships; disclosure of non-financial relationships (that create the potential for bias and compromise a member's objective judgment); disclosure of family members’ conflicts of interests; and establishment of appropriate reporting periods. Controversies in best practices include the threshold of financial disclosures, ease of access to conflicts of interest policies and declarations, vague definition of non-financial biases, and request for family members’ conflicts of interests (particularly those that are non-financial in nature). The USPSTF conflicts of interest policy includes disclosures for immediate family members, a clear non-financial conflicts of interest definition, long look-back period and application of the policy to prospective members. Conflicts of interest is solicited from all members every 4 months, formally reviewed, adjudicated, and made publicly available. The USPSTF conflicts of interest policy is publicly available as part of the USPSTF Procedure Manual. A continuous improvement process can be applied to conflicts of interest policies to enhance public trust in members of panels, such as the USPSTF, that produce clinical guidelines and recommendations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85038108864&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85038108864&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.06.034
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.06.034
M3 - Article
C2 - 29254528
AN - SCOPUS:85038108864
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 54
SP - S70-S80
JO - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
IS - 1
ER -