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. 2022 Mar 15;19(6):3478.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063478.

Awareness and Perceptions among Members of a Japanese Cancer Patient Advocacy Group Concerning the Financial Relationships between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Physicians

Anju Murayama  1   2 , Yuki Senoo  1 , Kayo Harada  1 , Yasuhiro Kotera  3 , Hiroaki Saito  4 , Toyoaki Sawano  5 , Yosuke Suzuki  1 , Tetsuya Tanimoto  1   6 , Akihiko Ozaki  1   7
Affiliations

Awareness and Perceptions among Members of a Japanese Cancer Patient Advocacy Group Concerning the Financial Relationships between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Physicians

Anju Murayama et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: Awareness and perceptions of financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) between pharmaceutical companies (Pharma) and healthcare domains remain unclear in Japanese cancer patient communities. This study aimed to assess awareness (RQ1), the influence of FCOI on physician trustworthiness (RQ2), and their perception (RQ3) among the Japanese cancer patient advocacy group members.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered survey was conducted with a Japanese cancer patient advocacy group between January and February 2019. The main outcome measures included awareness and perceptions of physician-Pharma interactions, their impact on physician trustworthiness, and attitudes towards FCOI among medical and other professions. Furthermore, we performed thematic analyses on the comments which responders provided in the surveys.

Results: Among the 524 contacted members, 96 (18.3%) completed the questionnaire, including 69 (77.5%) cancer patients. In RQ1, most of the respondents were aware of physician-Pharma interactions, although the extent differed based on the nature of the interaction. Furthermore, the respondents mainly considered these interactions influential on clinical practice (RQ2) and agreed to the need for further regulation of physician-Pharma interactions (QR3). In qualitative analyses (n = 56), we identified the 4 following themes: perception towards the FCOI (Theme 1), concerns about the respondent's treatment (Theme 2), reason of physician-Pharma interactions (Theme 3), and possible solutions from the patient perspective (Theme 4).

Conclusions: Most respondents were generally aware of physician-Pharma-associated FCOI and perceived them negatively. Additionally, participants appeared supportive of further FCOI regulation to protect patient-centred care.

Abbreviations: FCOI-financial conflicts of interest; United States-US; Pharma-pharmaceutical companies; RQ-research question.

Keywords: Japan; conflict of interest; ethics; financial relationship; patient-centred care; pharmaceutical industry.

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Conflict of interest statement

Saito receives personal fees from Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), outside the scope of the submitted work. Ozaki receives personal fees from Medical Network Systems outside the scope of the submitted work. Tanimoto receives personal fees from Medical Network Systems (Tokyo, Japan) and Bionics Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), outside the scope of the submitted work. The remaining authors declare no financial conflicts of interest. Anju Murayama, Yuki Senoo, Kayo Harada, Hiroaki Saito, Toyoaki Sawano, Tetsuya Tanimoto, and Akihiko Ozaki report a number of studies on conflicts of interest in Japan.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respondents’ awareness of interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical companies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Influence of physician–Pharma interactions on trust in physicians.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Respondents’ perceptions on statements regarding interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical companies and their associated regulations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Respondents’ perception of acceptable amounts and frequency of non-research payments from pharmaceutical companies to physicians.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Respondent attitude about conflicts of interest among various professionals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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