Trend in personal payments from pharmaceutical companies to board-certified cardiologists between 2016 and 2019
| Variables | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Average relative yearly change between 2016 and 2019 (95% CI), % |
| Total payments | |||||
| Monetary value, $ | 27 358 539 | 28 757 456 | 28 090 504 | 28 728 005 | 1.2 (−0.6 to 3.1) |
| Number of payments, no. | 40 535 | 41 834 | 40 581 | 42 063 | 0.8 (−1.0 to 2.6) |
| Payments per cardiologist | |||||
| Monetary value, $ | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 3917 (10 883) | 4068 (11 314) | 3938 (10 416) | 4082 (10 764) | 0.6 (−0.7 to 1.8) |
| Median (IQR) | 1226 (511–3247) | 1328 (511–3372) | 1320 (511–3270) | 1354 (613–3335) | |
| Maximum | 248 198 | 221 104 | 173 339 | 211 955 | |
| Gini Index | 0.865 | 0.862 | 0.858 | 0.858 | |
| Number of payments, no. | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 5.8 (10.1) | 5.9 (10.4) | 5.7 (9.7) | 6.0 (10.0) | 0.4 (−0.1 to 1.7) |
| Median (IQR) | 3.0 (1.0–6.0) | 3.0 (1.0–6.0) | 3.0 (1.0–6.0) | 3.0 (1.0–6.0) | |
| Maximum | 189.0 | 160.0 | 155.0 | 162.0 | |
| Gini Index | 0.810 | 0.808 | 0.802 | 0.805 | |
| Physicians with payments (%) (n=15 048), n | 6984 (46.4) | 7070 (47.0) | 7133 (47.4) | 7038 (46.8) | 0.3 (−0.2 to 0.8) |