Table 2.
Trend of personal payments from pharmaceutical companies to respiratory specialists certified by the JRS between 2016 and 2019
| Variables | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Average yearly change (95% CI), % | p value | Combined total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All pharmaceutical companies | |||||||
| Total payments, USD (JPY) | 12,439,754 | 12,025,229 | 13,911,371 | 15,171,038 | − | − | 53,547,391 |
| (1,355,933,145) | (1,310,749,925) | (1,516,339,453) | (1,653,643,099) | (5,836,665,622) | |||
| Average payments±SD, USD | 4,270±10,590 | 4,368±10,531 | 4,689±10,492 | 5,081±11,520 | 7.6 (5.5–9.8) | <0.001 | 12,134±34,045 |
| Median payments (IQR), USD | 1,085 (511–3,192) | 1,124 (511–3,325) | 1,328 (511–3,795) | 1,428 (520–4,034) | 2,210 (715–8,178) | ||
| Payment range, USD | 85–138,421 | 51–129,078 | 92–149,569 | 31–117,871 | − | − | 31–495,332 |
| Physicians with specific payments, n (%) | |||||||
| Any payments | 2,913 (40.9) | 2,753 (38.7) | 2,967 (41.7) | 2,986 (42.0) | 1.5 (0.61–2.4) | 0.001 | 4,413 (62.0) |
| Payments >USD 500 | 2,261 (31.8) | 2,174 (30.6) | 2,398 (33.7) | 2,457 (34.5) | 3.6 (2.5–4.6) | <0.001 | 3,747 (52.7) |
| Payments >USD 1,000 | 1,568 (22.0) | 1,490 (20.9) | 1,724 (24.2) | 1,806 (25.4) | 6.0 (4.7–7.3) | <0.001 | 3,000 (42.2) |
| Payments >USD 5,000 | 508 (7.1) | 504 (7.1) | 593 (8.3) | 634 (8.9) | 8.7 (6.3–11.2) | <0.001 | 1,478 (20.8) |
| Payments >USD 10,000 | 261 (3.7) | 269 (3.8) | 311 (4.4) | 331 (4.7) | 9.0 (5.7–12.4) | <0.001 | 940 (13.2) |
| Payments >USD 50,000 | 38 (0.53) | 34 (0.48) | 40 (0.56) | 49 (0.69) | 10.2 (−0.76 to 22.4) | 0.069 | 239 (3.4) |
| Payments >USD 100,000 | 6 (0.084) | 5 (0.070) | 2 (0.028) | 6 (0.084) | −6.1 (−32.5 to 30.5) | 0.71 | 111 (1.6) |
| Gini index | 0.892 | 0.897 | 0.884 | 0.885 | − | − | 0.871 |
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceutical companies with 4-year payment dataa | |||||||
| Total payments, USD | 12,329,176 | 12,010,489 | 13,846,437 | 15,102,239 | − | − | 53,286,653 |
| (1,343,880,199) | (1,309,143,306) | (1,509,261,613) | (1,645,960,030) | (5,808,245,148) | |||
| Average payments±SD, USD | 4,259±10,517 | 4,367±10,519 | 4,679±10,470 | 5,073±11,490 | 7.8 (5.6–9.9) | <0.001 | 12,113±33,943 |
| Median payments (IQR), USD | 1,093 (511–3,180) | 1,124 (511–3,326) | 1,328 (511–3,780) | 1,420 (520–4,005) | 2,214 (715–8,169) | ||
| Payment range, USD | 85–136,230 | 51–129,078 | 92–149,569 | 31–117,871 | − | − | 31–495,332 |
| Physicians with specific payments, n (%) | |||||||
| Any payments | 2,895 (40.7) | 2,750 (38.7) | 2,959 (41.6) | 2,977 (41.8) | 1.6 (0.69–2.5) | 0.001 | 4,399 (61.8) |
| Payments >USD 500 | 2,248 (31.6) | 2,171 (30.5) | 2,391 (33.6) | 2,452 (34.5) | 3.7 (2.6–4.7) | <0.001 | 3,734 (52.5) |
| Payments >USD 1,000 | 1,562 (22.0) | 1,489 (20.9) | 1,714 (24.1) | 1,803 (25.3) | 6.0 (4.7–7.3) | <0.001 | 2,991 (42.0) |
| Payments >USD 5,000 | 503 (7.1) | 504 (7.1) | 591 (8.3) | 632 (8.9) | 8.9 (6.4–11.4) | <0.001 | 1,472 (20.7) |
| Payments >USD 10,000 | 259 (3.6) | 268 (3.8) | 310 (4.4) | 330 (4.6) | 9.2 (5.9–12.5) | <0.001 | 931 (13.1) |
| Payments >USD 50,000 | 37 (0.52) | 33 (0.46) | 40 (0.56) | 48 (0.67) | 10.7 (−0.36 to 23.0) | 0.058 | 239 (3.4) |
| Payments >USD 100,000 | 6 (0.084) | 5 (0.070) | 2 (0.028) | 6 (0.084) | −6.1 (−32.5 to 30.5) | 0.71 | 110 (1.6) |
| Gini index | 0.892 | 0.897 | 0.884 | 0.885 | − | − | 0.871 |
IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation.
a
We analyzed the payments from 66 pharmaceutical companies with 4-year data.