Table 4. Disclosure information on 17 pharmaceutical companies’ websites providing funds to patient and consumer organizations.

Principal indicators	n (%)
Disclosure of the name of at least one patient or consumer organization funded∧	13 (76)
If yes, the amount of funding is reported	2 (15)
If yes, activities funded are reported*	4 (31)
Secondary indicators
Funded patient and consumer organizations are disclosed:**
in a dedicated section	11 (85)
in other sections	2 (15)
Date of update of sponsorships is available**	8 (61)
Links to websites of funded patient and consumer organizations**	5 (38)
Code of conduct dealing with patients and consumers organizations	15 (88)
An international website	13 (76)
If yes, information about sponsorship is different from that on the Italian website	9 (77)

^∧March 2010.

^*Reference to the activities funded varied among drug companies, from detailed description to generic mention of the type of activity.

^**Percentages refer to the drug companies reporting patient and consumer organizations funded.

The transparency of drug companies’ websites was assessed in terms of: disclosure of patient and consumer groups funded, amount of funds, activities funded; accessibility of sponsorship information; date of update of sponsorship; links to websites of funded patient and consumer groups; availability of a code of conduct on the relationships with patient and consumer groups; different sponsorships information between the international and the Italian website of the drug company.

According to the patient groups’ websites, each of the selected drug companies supported at least one of the patient or consumer groups included in the survey (one through its foundation).