Data collection
As the JSO-HNS did not disclose the name list of board-certified otorhinolaryngologists for the previous years, the name, practicing region and prefecture of all board-certified otorhinolaryngologists in 2021 were extracted from the official webpage of the JSO-HNS (http://www.jibika.or.jp/members/nintei/senmon/senmon-kensaku.html). Furthermore, we collected the name of all clinical practice guideline authors issued and reviewed by the JSO-HNS between 2015 and 2020 (including one year before and after the payment period), the JSO-HNS board members in 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, and editorial members of theAuris Nasus Larynx in April 2022. For data collection of society board members, we previously collected the name list of JSO-HNS in 2018-2019 and 2020-2021.[25] As the Auris Nasus Larynx did not publicly provide the name list of editorial board members in previous years, we collected the latest editorial members of Auris Nasus Larynx in April 2022.
The payments concerning lecturing, consulting, and writing paid to the board-certified otorhinolaryngologists were extracted from a total of 92 pharmaceutical companies belonging to the JPMA between 2016 and 2019. The period of payment data collection was determined by our availability of data collection. The companies have published and updated the payment data each year on their company webpages. The payment data for all companies belonging to the JPMA were collected from 2016 and as of May 2022, the payment data of 2019 were the latest analyzable data in Japan. Payment categories were described in our previous study and the JPMA transparency guideline.[3, 31] The detailed procedure of payment collection was noted previously.[5, 7, 29]