Variable Reporting by Authors Presenting Arthroplasty Research at Multiple Annual Conferences.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Previous research indicated financial conflict of interest (COI) disclosure inconsistencies at spine and sports medicine conferences.
• Variability in author disclosures can impact the perceived objectivity of presented research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify discrepancies in self-reported financial COI disclosures among authors presenting at multiple arthroplasty conferences in the same year.
• To assess the consistency of financial disclosures across major orthopedic surgery society meetings.

Main Methods:

• Compiled author disclosure information from 2012 annual meetings of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, the Hip Society, and the Knee Society.
• Tabulated disclosure details, number of entities, and types of disclosures.
• Compared disclosures for authors presenting at more than one meeting to identify discrepancies.

Main Results:

• Among 209 authors presenting at both AAOS and American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons meetings, 79 (37.79%) showed disclosure discrepancies.
• One author (1.19%) of 84 presenting at both AAOS and the Hip Society had discrepancies.
• Two authors (3.84%) of 52 presenting at both AAOS and the Knee Society had discrepancies.

Conclusions:

• Significant variability exists in reported financial COIs for authors presenting at multiple arthroplasty conferences annually.
• Enhanced transparency in COI disclosures is crucial for arthroplasty surgeons presenting research at national meetings.
• Further investigation is needed to standardize and improve COI reporting practices in orthopedic research.