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. 2023 Jun 12:16:1961-1977.
doi: 10.2147/JPR.S392840. eCollection 2023.

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in Clinical Trials on Knee Osteoarthritis Between 2001 and 2022

Jin Yu Gu  1 , Fei Han  2 , Si-Yu Chen  2 , Qing Zhang  1
Affiliations

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in Clinical Trials on Knee Osteoarthritis Between 2001 and 2022

Jin Yu Gu et al. J Pain Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: Clinical treatment of knee osteoarthritis has gained great interest, and numerous clinical studies have been reported. Few studies have described the detailed characterizations of clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis. This study is to identify, visualize, and characterize the clinical trials in knee osteoarthritis research.

Design and methods: Articles published in recent two decades were extracted from the Web of Science core collection database using a query based on MeSH terms and topics of knee osteoarthritis and clinical trial. Basic characteristics of publications were analyzed based on the publication year, authors, institutions, counties, and keywords covered in the article. CiteSpace and VOS viewer were used for data visualization. The data were retrieved on May 28, 2022.

Results: A total of 1972 trials on knee osteoarthritis were identified. The number of publications has experienced rapid growth in the past two decades. America, England, and China had strong contributions in publication. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and American Journal of Sports Medicine were highly cited and bellwether journals. Clustering mapping of the collaborative network, co-citation, and co-occurrence analyses showed that the research hotspots are mainly focused on disease-modifying medications, intra-articular injections, physical therapy for symptom control, lifestyle intervention, Chinese medicine treatment, and knee replacement.

Conclusion: Clinical treatments of knee OA are evolving. Pharmacologic therapy, intra-articular therapy, nonpharmacologic therapy including exercise or diet, self-management programs, Chinese medicine treatment, and knee replacement were highly represented in clinical trials of knee OA. Adjustment of combination therapy may be the next study focus in the future.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; clinical trial; knee osteoarthritis; public health; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of annual publications during the past 22 years.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The top 15 study categories related to the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The top 15 study fundings related to the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Collaboration network analysis of countries associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Collaboration network analysis of institutions associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Collaboration network analysis of authors associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 7
Figure 7
A cluster diagram of co-cited analysis of journals associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The top 30 journal with the most burstiness related to clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis. Years in blue indicate that the journal is less influential, and years in red indicate that the journal is more influential.
Figure 9
Figure 9
The dual map overlay of journals associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis. The cited journals are located on the right, and the citing journals are located on the left. The colored path represents cited association.
Figure 10
Figure 10
A cluster diagram of co-cited references associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 11
Figure 11
The top 30 co-cited references with the most burstiness related to clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis. The bolded type in the graph represents the point in time when the number of citations to an article increases significantly, indicating that the relevant research direction receives progressively more attention after that point in time.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Mapping of keyword clusters associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Keyword cluster analysis on timeline distribution associated with the clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis.
Figure 14
Figure 14
The top 30 keywords with the largest bursts related to clinical trials on knee osteoarthritis. The bolded type in the graph represents the point in time when the number of citations to an article increases significantly, indicating that the relevant research direction receives progressively more attention after that point in time.
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