Development and trend in the field of valvular heart disease in China: an analysis based on the National Natural Science Foundation of China

Abstract

Background: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) plays a vital role promoting advancement of science in China. The incidence and mortality rate of valvular heart disease (VHD) increase with aging population. Therefore, it is of significance to discuss the development and trend in the field of VHD and provide references for scholars to carry out further Foundations.

Methods: Internet-based Science Information System and other websites were used to search for projects supported by NSFC related to VHD in 2008-2019 and related information of applicants. Publications, citations and impact factors were queried by Google Scholar and InCites Journal Citation Reports 2.0 and analyzed by SPSS for Windows version 24.0. Key words extracted from these project titles were imported into Citespace for analysis.

Results: A total of 117 projects and related information were acquired. Although the annual amount of projects and funding has fluctuated in recent years, they still maintained an upward trend. Institutes were mainly distributed over Hubei Province, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province. Applicants characterized as senior title, male, cardiac surgeon have accounted for a larger proportion of projects, with a greater amount of funding. Through the analysis of keywords and subject distribution, molecular-biology-based mechanism study combined with tissue engineering has become the principal research hot spot and trend in recent years. Annual changes in output in scientific research were consistent with changes in the amount of funding.

Conclusions: This paper collated funding situation supported by NSFC in VHD, analyzed distribution of keywords and summarized the research trend, so as to supply guidance to researchers for advanced researches.

Keywords: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); project funded; statistical analysis; valvular heart disease (VHD).

Figure 1

The annual amount of projects and funding in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 2

The amount of projects and funding for application institution in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. (A) The amount of projects; (B) the amount of funding. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 3

The amount of projects and funding for subject code in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. (A) The amount of projects; (B) the amount of funding. H0210, Valvular Heart Disease; C1002, Biological Materials; H1822, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine; H020, Cardiac Dysplasia and Congenital Heart Disease; H0213, Heart/Vascular Transplantation and Assisted Circulation; H1805, Medical Ultrasound and Acoustic Contrast Agents; C100103, Biomechanics and Biorheology of the Blood Circulation System; H0205, Abnormal ECG Activity and Arrhythmia; H0511, Renal Failure, H1816, Interventional Medicine and Engineering; H0222, New Technologies for Diagnosis and Treatment of Circulatory Diseases; A020501, System Dynamics of Tissue and Organ; A020415, Computational Fluid Dynamics; C041103, Experimental Animals; F030918, Wearable, Medical and Service Robot Systems; H2005, Clinical Molecular Biological Examination; A011701, Numerical Calculation of Partial Differential Equation; E060203, Internal Flow of Fluid Machinery; C100304, Tissue Engineered Blood Vessels and Myocardium; A020503, Biomechanics, Biomaterials and Motion Biomechanics; F012408, Modeling and Simulation of Biological Information System; F020503, Virtual and Augmented Reality; C100310, 3D construction of Artificial Organs and Simulated Tissues; E031001, Tissue Engineering Material; F012401, Bioelectronics; H1809, Medical Image Data Processing and Analysis; C1003, Tissue Engineering; H2501, Gereology; H0223, Other Scientific Problems of Circulatory System Diseases. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 4

The annual amount of projects and funding for general projects and youth scientist projects in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. (A) The annual amount of projects; (B) the annual amount of funding. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 5

The amount of projects and funding for each province general projects and youth scientist projects in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. (A) The amount of projects; (B) the amount of funding. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 6

Keywords in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. A dot represents a keyword, and a line between dots represents the connection between two keywords. The font size of the word next to the dot represents the frequency of the keyword. The larger the font, the higher the frequency of the keyword. The colors of lines indicate that the connection between the keywords lines represent occurred at different times. Blue represents the connection between the keywords in 2018–2010. Purple represents the connection between the keywords in 2011–2013. Pink represents the connection between the keywords in 2014–2016. Yellow represents the connection between the keywords in 2017–2019. In Figure 6A to Figure 6D, lines in different colors are made bold to highlight the connections between keywords in different period of time. (A) In 2008–2010; (B) in 2011–2013; (C) in 2014–2016; (D) in 2017–2019; (E) in 2008–2019. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Figure 7

The annual amount of publication, citation, IF and funding in the VHD field of NSFC in 2008–2019. (A) The annual total amount of publication, citation, IF and funding; (B) the annual average amount of publication, citation, IF and the annual total amount of funding. VHD, valvular heart disease; NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of China.