GRADE Notes 3: two approaches to assess industry sponsorship bias used by two Dutch guidelines organizations

Abstract

ObjectiveOur objective is to develop a step-by-step approach for our institutes to evaluate the influence of the funding body 1. on risk of bias of an individual study and 2. on publication bias in reviews and meta-analyses for guidelines. Study Design and SettingMethodologists from guideline organizations in the Netherlands discussed the influence of the funding body in clinical trials researching interventions. Results were discussed in our organizations and presented at the Dutch GRADE Network. ResultsTwo step-by-step approaches were developed to guide methodologists from our institutes in assessing the influence of the funding body 1. on risk of bias of an individual study and 2. on publication bias in reviews and meta-analyses for guidelines. For risk of bias, the involvement of the funding body in the study is checked as well as the direction of the effect. For publication bias, the exploration by the authors is evaluated, and any difference between industry-funded and non-funded studies in effect is checked. Guiding questions were proposed. ConclusionThe step-by-step approaches make the evaluation of the influence of the funding body more objective and transparent in our institutes. The developed approaches will also be brought forward to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation working group.