[Disclosure of conflicts of interest in hospital pharmacy posters in France: we still have a long way to go]

Introduction: Since 1995, disclosure of conflicts of interest in international scientific publications became systematic, but, in France, there is yet no obligation to mention them in oral communications or posters of pharmacy.

Objective: To assess the rate of posters in hospital pharmacy meetings which mention potential conflicts of interest.

Methods: A prospective study. All abstracts presented in printed poster format were evaluated during three hospital pharmacy meetings organized in France between November 2011 and March 2012 for the presence of the conflicts of interest disclosure, even if there were no conflicts of interest. The main outcome was the rate of posters with mentions of potential conflicts of interest. A subgroup analysis was conducted about geographic origin of authors.

Results: On 294 announced posters, 263 were displayed, 252 did not mention any conflict of interest, 11 mentioned the possibility or not of conflict of interest (4.2%): the rate ranged from 1.1 to 25% according to the meeting. Posters from France disclosed less often conflicts of interest (<2%) than foreign ones (>40%).

Discussion-conclusion: The rate of spontaneous disclosure of conflicts of interest is very low within French pharmacists. The instructions given by French meeting organizers should be more directive on the matter.