School of Nutrition, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Department of Public Health Nutrition, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Front Public Health. 2022 Jul 11;10:821740. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.821740. eCollection 2022.
The use of scientific evidence to support the process of formulating and implementing public policies might be biased by studies funded by the pharmaceutical and food industry, which more often than not meet corporate interests. This review aimed to analyze the occurrence of conflict of interest (COI) in academic production regarding vitamin D and COVID-19, considering the facility offered during the pandemic for academic publications of heterogeneous quality. A scoping review of observational studies published in Medline, Lilacs, and Google Scholar databases was carried out. The selected studies were published between December 2019 and August 2021, focused on the relationship between vitamin D and prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in non-institutionalized individuals, with no language restrictions. Twenty-nine studies met eligibility criteria. COI was disclosed in five papers and further identified by review authors in eight other papers, meaning COI was present in thirteen papers (44.8%). Studies were funded by companies in the diagnostics, pharmaceutical and food sectors. Conclusions favorable to vitamin D supplementation were more prevalent in papers where COI was identified (9/13, 69.2%) than among papers where COI was not found (4/16, 25.0%). Omissions of disclosure of COI, funding source, and sponsor functions were observed. The identification of possible corporate political activities in scientific papers about vitamin D published during the COVID-19 pandemic signals a need for greater transparency and guideline development on the prevention of COI in scientific production.
利用科学证据来支持制定和实施公共政策的过程可能会受到制药和食品行业资助的研究的影响，而这些研究往往更符合企业利益。本研究旨在分析在大流行期间为各种质量的学术出版物提供便利的情况下，与维生素 D 和 COVID-19 相关的学术研究中利益冲突（COI）的发生情况。对在 Medline、Lilacs 和 Google Scholar 数据库中发表的观察性研究进行了范围综述。选择的研究发表于 2019 年 12 月至 2021 年 8 月之间，重点研究非住院个体中维生素 D 与 COVID-19 预防或治疗之间的关系，无语言限制。有 29 项研究符合入选标准。有 5 篇论文披露了利益冲突，另有 8 篇论文由评审作者进一步确定，这意味着有 13 篇论文（44.8%）存在利益冲突。这些研究由诊断、制药和食品领域的公司资助。在确定存在利益冲突的论文中（9/13，69.2%），更倾向于得出支持维生素 D 补充的结论，而在未发现利益冲突的论文中（4/16，25.0%）则较少得出这样的结论。观察到利益冲突、资金来源和赞助者功能披露的遗漏。在 COVID-19 大流行期间发表的关于维生素 D 的科学论文中，发现了可能存在的企业政治活动，这表明需要提高科学研究中预防利益冲突的透明度和制定指导方针。
