Table 3.
Adherence to the 11 preferred practices stratified by trial stage and funding
| Practices | Trial Funding | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Non-industry | Industry | Adherence to preferred practice (Non-industry vs. Industry) | |
| (N = 700) | (N = 646) * | (N = 460)† | ||
| n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | ||
| Trial Preparation Stage | ||||
| Signed contracts reviewed by institution ‡ | ||||
| Signed contracts | 458 | 262 | 376 | |
| No trials | 13(3) | 10(4) | 10(3) | |
| Some trials | 39(9) | 21(8) | 18(5) | |
| All trials § | 374(82) | 191(73) | 330(88) | Similar |
| Not sure | 22(5) | 32(12) | 12(3) | |
| Did not answer | 10(2) | 8(3) | 6(2) | |
| Signed contracts have restrictive confidentiality clauses ‡ | ||||
| Signed contracts | 458 | 262 | 376 | |
| No trials § | 54(12) | 48(18) | 28(7) | Similar |
| Some trials | 99(22) | 35(13) | 58(15) | |
| All trials | 201(44) | 77(29) | 212(56) | |
| Not sure | 94(21) | 94(36) | 72(19) | |
| Did not answer | 10(2) | 8(3) | 6(2) | |
| Budgetary reviewed by a research ethics board or institution official | ||||
| No trials | 39(6) | 49(8) | 22(5) | |
| Some trials | 92(13) | 56(9) | 28(6) | |
| All trials § | 523(75) | 487(75) | 386(84) | Similar |
| Not sure | 28(4) | 38(6) | 18(4) | |
| Did not answer | 18(3) | 16(2) | 6(1) | |
| Trials registered in trial registry since 2005 | ||||
| No trials | 50(7) | 56(9) | 36(8) | |
| Some trials | 221(32) | 173(27) | 69(15) | |
| All trials § | 274(39) | 254(39) | 141(31) | Similar |
| Not sure | 140(20) | 138(21) | 193(42) | |
| Did not answer | 15(2) | 25(4) | 21(5) | |
| Trial Conduct Stage | ||||
| Funder owns study data | ||||
| No trials § | 258(37) | 394(61) | 52(11) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 221(32) | 42(7) | 114(25) | |
| All trials | 107(15) | 68(11) | 172(37) | |
| Not sure | 87(12) | 119(18) | 114(25) | |
| Did not answer | 27(4) | 23(3) | 8(2) | |
| Investigator has access to data from all sites | ||||
| No trials | 80(11) | 69(11) | 61(13) | |
| Some trials | 191(27) | 94(15) | 108(23) | |
| All trials § | 265(38) | 306(47) | 99(22) | Higher in non-industry |
| Not sure | 132(19) | 147(23) | 181(39) | |
| Did not answer | 32(5) | 30(5) | 11(2) | |
| Funder controls final decisions regarding: | ||||
| Study design | ||||
| No trials § | 247(35) | 366(57) | 78(17) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 228(33) | 46(7) | 112(24) | |
| All trials | 141(20) | 118(18) | 179(39) | |
| Not sure | 63(9) | 98(15) | 84(18) | |
| Did not answer | 21(3) | 18(3) | 7(2) | |
| Data analysis | ||||
| No trials § | 276(39) | 397(61) | 92(20) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 222(32) | 37(6) | 114(25) | |
| All trials | 120(17) | 109(17) | 155(34) | |
| Not sure | 61(9) | 85(13) | 92(20) | |
| Did not answer | 21(3) | 18(3) | 7(2) | |
| Data interpretation | ||||
| No trials § | 300(43) | 404(63) | 103(22) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 207(30) | 36(6) | 111(24) | |
| All trials | 106(15) | 106(16) | 126(27) | |
| Not sure | 66(9) | 82(13) | 113(25) | |
| Did not answer | 21(3) | 18(3) | 7(2) | |
| Trial Dissemination Stage | ||||
| Funder controls final decision on content of submitted manuscripts | ||||
| No trials § | 368(53) | 445(69) | 124(27) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 168(24) | 37(6) | 100(22) | |
| All trials | 49(7) | 41(6) | 70(15) | |
| Not sure | 88(13) | 100(15) | 157(34) | |
| Did not answer | 27(4) | 23(4) | 9(2) | |
| Completed manuscripts has ghost authorship | ||||
| No trials § | 450(64) | 478(74) | 147(32) | Higher in non-industry |
| Some trials | 100(14) | 35(5) | 75(16) | |
| All trials | 5(1) | 4(1) | 8(2) | |
| Not sure | 117(17) | 104(16) | 220(48) | |
| Did not answer | 28(4) | 25(4) | 10(2) | |
Notes:
* 646 investigators included 406 who had experience in both industry funding and non-industry funding trials and 240 who only had experience in non-industry funding trials. We defined non-industry funding as support from a government agency, hospital, university, or other non-profit source (e.g., a federal granting organization) and industry funding as support from a private for-profit corporation (e.g., pharmaceutical company).
† 460 investigators included 406 who had experience in both industry funding and non-industry funding trials and 54 who only had experience in industry funding trials.
‡ Question was related to 458 investigators who had signed contracts.
§ Rows indicated the proportion of investigators that reported full adherence to the specific preferred trial practice in all of their trials experience