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]