IMPORTANCEIt is well documented that financial conflicts of interest influence medical research and clinical practice. Prior to the Open Payments provisions of the Affordable Care Act, financial ties became apparent only through self-disclosure. The nature of financial interests has not been studied among physicians who develop dermatology clinical practice guidelines.OBJECTIVE To evaluate payments received by physicians who author dermatology clinical practice guidelines, compare disclosure statements for accuracy, determine whether pharmaceutical companies from which the authors received payments manufactured products related to the guidelines, and examine the extent to which the American Academy of Dermatology enforced their Administrative Regulations for guideline development.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Three American Academy of Dermatology guidelines published from 2013 to 2016 were retrieved. Double data extraction was used to record financial payments received by 49 guideline authors using the Open Payments database. Payments received by the authors from the date of the initial literature search to the date of publication were used to evaluate disclosure statement accuracy, detail the companies providing payments, and evaluate Administrative Regulations enforcement. This study is applicable to clinical practice guideline panels drafting recommendations, physicians using clinical practice guidelines to inform patient care, and those establishing policies for guideline development.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Our main outcomes are the monetary values and types of payments received by physicians who author dermatology guidelines and the accuracy of disclosure statements. Data were collected from the Open Payments database and analyzed descriptively.

Some CPG authors failed to fully disclose all financial conflicts of interest, and most guideline development panels and chairpersons had conflicts. In addition, adherence to IOM standards for guideline development was lacking. This study is relevant to CPG panels authoring recommendations, physicians implementing CPGs to guide patient care, and the organizations establishing policies for guideline development.

Our study found that trials that provided strong evidence for orthopaedic surgery guidelines were largely fragile, underpowered, and at risk of bias.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the prevalence of deep surgical site infections after surgical repair of periarticular knee fractures, and the prevalence of septic arthritis, common microorganisms in infection cultures, and covariates associated with surgical site infections.

Because orthopaedic surgeons rely on high-quality research to direct patient care, measures must be taken to ensure that published research is of the highest quality. The use of reporting guidelines and prospective clinical trial registration may improve the quality of orthopaedic research, thereby improving patient care.

To evaluate global public interest in osteoarthritis by assessing changes in Internet search popularity of the disease over a 10-year period. Google Trends was used to obtain search popularity scores for the word "osteoarthritis" (OA) between January 2004 and June 2018. We also analyzed changes in search volume relative to changes in search patterns for all health topics. Search interest in OA was high relative to all other health searches over the given timeframe. Overall, searches for OA steadily decreased between May 2004 and December 2012 and then steadily rose from January 2013 to April 2018. We also found consistent annual fluctuations over the pre-specified time range, with biannual peaks typically correlating with national and global awareness days. Biannual dips occurred with changes in seasonal patterns. Google searches for OA have steadily increased in recent years. Awareness initiatives, like World Arthritis Day, may be a reason for the public to search for information on OA. It may be helpful for physicians to search the Internet themselves for websites that provide accurate and high-quality information to recommend to their patients.

Clinical practice guidelines and appropriate use criteria are critical for practicing evidence-based medicine. If financial conflicts of interest are present during their development, it is possible that patient care may be compromised.

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