The Trend of Labor Analgesia in the World and China: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in Recent 30 Years

Figures & data

Figure 1 Labor analgesia-related articles in the world and in China. (A) The number of labor analgesia-related publications from the top 15 Countries/Regions. (B) The global number of publications each year. (C) The number of publications in each year from China.

Table 1 The Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Articles on Labor Analgesia in the World

Title	Author	Journal	Year	IF	Times Cited
Clinical pharmacology of tramadol^Citation10	Grond, S, et al	Clinical Pharmacokinetics	2004	4.68	671
Severe neurological complications after central neuraxial blockades in Sweden 1990–1999^Citation11	Moen, V, et al	Anesthesiology	2004	6.424	614
Pain and women’s satisfaction with the experience of childbirth: A systematic review^Citation12	Hodnett, E	American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology	2002	6.12	491
Depression and anxiety during pregnancy: A risk factor for obstetric, fetal and neonatal outcome? A critical review of the literature^Citation13	Alder, J, et al	Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine	2007	1.569	418
Continuous support for women during childbirth^Citation14	Hodnett, E, et al	Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	2007	7.755	410
The effect of intrapartum epidural analgesia on nulliparous labor: a randomized, controlled, prospective trial^Citation15	Thorp, JA, et al	American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology	1993	6.12	363
Practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia: An updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on obstetric anesthesia^Citation16	Hawkins, J.L, et al	Anesthesiology	2007	6.424	362
Continuous support for women during childbirth^Citation17	Hodnett, E, et al	Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	2011	7.755	340
Antepartum depressive symptomatology is associated with adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes^Citation18	Chung, T.K.H, et al	Psychosomatic Medicine	2001	3.937	334
Epidural versus non-epidural or no analgesia in labour^Citation19	Anim-Somuah, M, et al	Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	2005	7.755	327

Table 2 The Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Articles on Labor Analgesia in China

Title	Author	Journal	Year	IF	Times Cited
Epidural analgesia in the latent phase of labor and the risk of cesarean delivery: A five-year randomized controlled trial^Citation20	Wang, F, et al	Anesthesiology	2009	6.424	79
Evidence-based obstetrics in four hospitals in China: An observational study to explore clinical practice, women’s preferences and provider’s views^Citation21	Qian, X, et al	BMCc Pregnancy and Childbirth	2001	2.413	50
Electro-acupuncture in relieving labor pain^Citation22	Qu, Fan, et al	Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine	2007	1.984	49
Epidural labor analgesia is associated with a decreased risk of postpartum depression: A prospective cohort study^Citation23	Ding, Ting, et al	Anesthesia and Analgesia	2014	3.489	34
Xenon and sevoflurane provide analgesia during labor and fetal brain protection in a perinatal rat model of hypoxia-ischemia^Citation24	Yang, Ting, et al	PLoS One	2012	2.776	32
A comparison of remifentanil parturient-controlled intravenous analgesia with epidural analgesia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials^Citation25	Liu, Z.-Q, et al	Anesthesia and Analgesia	2014	3.489	28
Publication trends in acupuncture research: A 20-year bibliometric analysis based on PubMed^Citation6	Ma, Y, et al	PLoS One	2016	2.776	27
Patient controlled intravenous analgesia with tramadol for labor pain relief^Citation26	Long, J, et al	Chinese Medical Journal	2003	1.555	27
Remifentanil for labour analgesia: A double-blinded, randomised controlled trial of maternal and neonatal effects of patient-controlled analgesia versus continuous infusion^Citation27	Shen, M.K, et al	Anaesthesia	2013	5.879	26
Epidural infusions for labor analgesia: A comparison of 0.2% ropivacaine, 0.1% ropivacaine, and 0.1% ropivacaine with fentanyl^Citation28	Lee, B.B, et al	Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine	2002	5.113	26

Table 3 The Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Articles on Labor Analgesia in Chinese Journals

Title	Author	Journal	Year	IF	Times Cited
Clinical study on analgesic labor with inhaling Nitrous Oxide^Citation29	Shao H, et al	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2000	–	270
Labor analgesia: review^Citation30	Guo, J. R. et al	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2004	–	162
The importance of labor analgesia in improving perinatal quality^Citation31	Yao, T. Y.	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2000	–	150
Feasibility of labour analgesia on a large scale^Citation32	Qu, Y, et al	Chinese Journal of Anesthesiology	2003	–	145
Feasibility of combined spinal-epidural anesthesia and patient controlled epidural analgesia for labor pain relief^Citation33	Qu, Y, et al	Chinese Journal Of Anesthesiology	2000	-	141
Psychotherapy and labor analgesia^Citation34	Liu, H.T.	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2000	-	133
Historical status and prospects of labor analgesia^Citation35	Jin, J.Y.	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2000	-	130
Clinical study of sufentanil for labor analgesia^Citation36	Liu, J.Y. et al	Chinese Journal of Obstetrics And Gynecology	2004	-	114
Current status and clinical application of labor analgesia^Citation37	Xu, M.J, et al	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2006	-	111
Patient-controlled analgesia for labor analgesia^Citation38	She, S.Z.	Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics	2000	-	105

Figure 2 The difference of article types and research categories in the world and China. (A) The types of publications analysis regarding labor analgesia in the past three decades worldwide. (B) The publications distributed in subject area worldwide. Figure c and d was plot by using the visualization tools in the web of science, different color area represent the percentage of each research categories, organized by size order. (C) The research categories on labor analgesia in the world. (D) The research categories on labor analgesia in China.

Figure 3 Citations and h-index analysis in the world and China. The total citations, average citations per paper and h-index for labor analgesia articles from top 5 countries and China.

Figure 4 High contribution journals, authors and institutions in labor analgesia field in the world and China. (A) The publication trend in the top 5 high contribution journals in labor analgesia field. (B) The top 10 high contribution authors worldwide. (C) The top 10 high contribution institutions worldwide. (D) The top 5 high contribution institutions in China.

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