Industry Payments and Their Association With Academic Influence in Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background The relationship between industry payments and academic influence, as measured by the h-index and number of publications, among adult reconstruction surgeons is not well characterized. The aims of the present study are to determine the relationship between an adult reconstruction surgeons’ academic influence and their relevant industry payments and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Methods Adult reconstruction surgeons were identified through the websites for the orthopedic surgery residency programs in the United States during the 2019-2020 academic year. Academic influence was approximated by each physician’s h-index and total number of publications. Industry payment data was obtained through the Open Payments Database, and NIH funding was determined through the NIH web site. Mann-Whitney U testing and Spearman correlations were performed to examine relevant associations. Results Surgeons who received industry research payments had a higher mean h-index (16.1 vs 10.2, p Conclusions H-index and total publications do not seem to be associated with industry non-research payments in the field of total joint arthroplasty. Altogether, these data suggest that industry bias may not play a strong role in total joint arthroplasty.