Investigation and Evaluation of Chinese Clinical Practice Guidelines Published in Medical Journals in 2019:Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Abstract

Objective To analyze the situation of funding and conflicts of interest of Chinese clinical practice guidelines published in medical journals in 2019, so as to provide reference for the standardized management of funding and conflicts of interest in Chinese guidelines. Methods We systematically searched four electronic databases and additional sources for Chinese guidelines published in medical journals from January 1 to December 31, 2019. After screening, two researchers independently extracted data on funding and conflicts of interest and cross checked. We analyzed data by using EndNote X9, Microsoft Excel 2019 and SPSS 25.0 software. Results We finally included 226 guidelines, of which, 187 were published in Chinese and 39 in English. There were 68 (30.1%) and 120 (53.1%) guidelines that reported funding and conflicts of interest, respectively, and only 41 (18.1%) that reported on both. There were 64 (28.3%) guidelines reported to have received funding, involving 170 projects, which were mainly at the national level (82, 48.2%) and ministerial and provincial-level (52, 30.6%). Only 5 (2.2%) guidelines reported the role of the funder in the stages of the development process. Among the 120 guidelines that reported conflicts of interest, 102 (85.0%) simply described 'no conflicts of interest', while there were less than 10% of guidelines that reported the methods of collection, assessment and management for conflicts of interest, and there was no public access available to such information. Conclusions There is a lack of effective management of funding and conflicts of interest in the Chinese guidelines published in medical journals in 2019, which is reflected in the low reporting rate, insufficient reporting contents and unavailable materials provided by the guideline developers. We suggest that guideline developers in the future should pay more attention to the field of guideline funding and conflicts of interest. Guidelines managers and researchers should actively improve management policies, and develop relevant reporting standards.

Keywords

• clinical practice guideline
• funding
• conflicts of interest