Research Trends and Foci in Osteoarthritis Pain from 2012 to 2022: Bibliometric and Visualization Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow diagram of search strategy.

Table 1 Types of Retrieved Documents (2012-01-01 to 2022-12-31)

Document Type	Total Publications	Percentage (%)
Articles	2053	82.35
Review Articles	258	10.35
Editorial Materials	97	3.89
Letters	85	3.41
Total	2493	100

Table 2 Annual Scientific Productions and Citations

Year	Articles	Citations	Average Citations
2012	119	6020	51
2013	139	6764	49
2014	130	5358	41
2015	169	5021	30
2016	178	5116	29
2017	188	4752	25
2018	242	5627	23
2019	275	3916	14
2020	326	2797	9
2021	343	1868	5
2022	331	575	2

Figure 2 Correlation analysis between citation and publication metric. ***p<0.01.

Figure 3 Articles–citations histogram.

Table 3 Top 10 Authors Distributed by Publications and Citations

Rank	Author	Publications	Country	Institution	First Author	DF	DF Rank	Author	Total Citations	Country	Institution	H-Index	Publications	PY_Start
1	Fillingim, Roger B.	32	USA	University of Florida	1	0.03	6	Neogi, T.	1049	USA	Boston University	7	12	2013
2	Bennell, Kim L.	32	Australia	The University of Melbourne	9	0.28	1	Malfait, Anne-Marie	984	USA	Rush University	15	19	2012
3	Hunter, David J.	29	Australia	The University of Sydney	2	0.07	3	Conaghan, Philip G.	891	England	University of Leeds	13	22	2012
4	Neogi, Tuhina	24	USA	Boston University	2	0.08	4	Wylde, Vikki	802	England	University of Bristol	3	3	2012
5	Felson, David T.	23	USA	Boston University	1	0.04	7	Keefe, Francis J.	794	USA	Duke University	14	22	2012
6	Staud, Roland	22	USA	University of Florida	0	0.00	8	Price, Lori Lyn	787	USA	Tufts Medical Center	6	9	2013
7	Keefe, Francis J.	22	USA	Duke University	0	0.00	9	Bennell, Kim L.	775	Australia	The University of Melbourne	15	32	2012
8	Conaghan, Philip G.	22	England	University of Leeds	6	0.27	2	Arendt-Nielsen, L.	769	Denmark	Aalborg University	9	10	2012
9	Arendt-Nielsen, Lars	21	Denmark	Aalborg University	2	0.10	5	Dieppe, Paul	765	England	University of Exeter	2	2	2012
10	Sibille, Kimberly T.	20	USA	University of Florida	0	0.00	10	Felson, David T.	757	USA	Boston University	13	23	2013

Abbreviations: DF, dominance factor, the frequency with which the author is the first author of a co-authored article; TC, total citations of the author; PY_start, the year that researcher published his first article during the investigated period.

Figure 4 Network visualization map of co-authorship in osteoarthritis pain research.

Table 4 Top 10 Countries Distributed by Publications and Citations

Ranked by Publications	Country	Articles	Citations	Average Citations (AC)	Corresponding Author (CA)			/2493%	Rank by AC
					SCP	MCP	Non-CA
1	USA	797	20,727	26	475	115	207	31.97%	3
2	England	310	9412	30	236	41	33	12.43%	2
3	China	281	3547	13	121	70	90	11.27%	10
4	Australia	254	5884	23	84	80	90	10.19%	6
5	Canada	186	4664	25	115	15	56	7.46%	5
6	Japan	140	1952	14	78	40	22	5.62%	9
7	Netherlands	128	2560	20	69	29	30	5.13%	7
8	Denmark	105	3288	31	67	10	28	4.21%	1
9	Spain	98	2494	25	42	33	23	3.93%	4
10	Italy	97	1691	17	57	14	26	3.89%	8

Abbreviations: SCP, single-country publications; MCP, multiple-country publications.

Figure 5 Network visualization map of international collaboration among countries.

Figure 6 Publication distributed by single-country publications (SCP) and multiple-country publications (MCP).

Abbreviations: SCP, single country publications; MCP, multiple country publications.

Table 5 Keywords by Frequency

Rank	Author Keywords (DE)	Frequency	Keywords-Plus (ID)	Frequency
1	Osteoarthritis	975	Hip	466
2	Pain	653	Management	369
3	Knee Osteoarthritis	423	Knee Osteoarthritis	303
4	Knee	203	Prevalence	286
5	Chronic Pain	117	Arthritis	250
6	Knee Pain	77	Efficacy	214
7	Exercise	64	Old-adults	211
8	Meta-analysis	63	Double-blind	198
9	Inflammation	61	Association	171
10	Quality of Life	49	Disability	159

Figure 7 Top 50 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.

Figure 8 Network visualization map of the author keywords.

Figure 9 Co-citation map (timeline view) of keywords from publications on osteoarthritis pain research field.

Table 6 Top 10 Journals Distributed by Publications and Citations

Rank	Journal	Publication	% of 2493	IF (JCR 2021)	JIF Quartile	Journal	Total Citation	Publications	Average Citations (AC)	H-Index	IF (JCR 2021)	JIF Quartile	AC Rank
1	Osteoarthritis and Cartilage	178	7.14%	7.507	Q1	Osteoarthritis and Cartilage	5964	178	34	41	7.507	Q1	6
2	Arthritis Care & Research	87	3.49%	5.178	Q2	Pain	2367	52	46	31	7.926	Q1	3
3	BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders	85	3.41%	2.562	Q2	Arthritis Care & Research	2356	87	27	28	5.178	Q2	8
4	Pain	52	2.09%	7.926	Q1	JAMA – Journal of the American Medical Association	1765	20	88	17	157.335	Q1	1
5	Pain Medicine	43	1.72%	3.637	Q2	Annals of The Rheumatic Disease	1435	36	40	20	27.973	Q1	4
6	Journal of Pain Research	42	1.68%	2.832	Q3	Arthritis & Rheumatology	1242	34	37	19	15.483	Q1	5
7	PLoS One	39	1.56%	3.752	Q2	BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders	1132	85	13	19	2.562	Q2	10
9	Arthritis Research & Therapy	37	1.48%	5.606	Q1	BMJ Open	1027	38	27	10	3.006	Q2	9
8	BMJ Open	38	1.52%	3.006	Q2	Arthritis Research & Therapy	1070	37	29	19	5.606	Q1	7
10	Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases	36	1.44%	27.973	Q1	Arthritis and Rheumatism	969	12	81	12	8.955	Q1	2

Figure 10 Visualization of top 10 prolific journals publications distribution.

Table 7 Top 10 Cited Literatures

Rank	Authors	Citations	Article Title	Journal Abbreviation	Date	Volume	DOI	Article Type	PubMed Id
1	Neogi, T	810	The epidemiology and impact of pain in osteoarthritis^Citation29	Osteoarthr Cartilage	2013	21	10.1016/j.joca.2013.03.018	Article	23973124
2	Beswick, AD	751	What proportion of patients report long-term pain after total hip or knee replacement for osteoarthritis? A systematic review of prospective studies in unselected patients^Citation30	BMJ Open	2012	2	10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000435	Review	22357571
3	Ma, VY	533	Incidence, prevalence, costs, and impact on disability of common conditions requiring rehabilitation in the United States: stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, limb loss, and back pain^Citation31	Arch Phys Med Rehab	2014	95	10.1016/j.apmr.2013.10.032	Review	24462839
4	Krebs, EE	513	Effect of opioid vs nonopioid medications on pain-related function in patients with chronic back pain or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain The SPACE Randomized Clinical Trial^Citation32	JAMA – J Am Med Assoc	2018	319	10.1001/jama.2018.0899	Article	29509867
5	McAlindon, TE	393	Effect of intra-articular triamcinolone vs saline on knee cartilage volume and pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis a randomized clinical trial^Citation33	JAMA – J Am Med Assoc	2017	317	10.1001/jama.2017.5283	Article	28510679
6	Juhl, C	322	Impact of exercise type and dose on pain and disability in knee osteoarthritis^Citation34	Arthritis Rheumatol	2014	66	10.1002/art.38290	Article	24574223
7	da Costa, BR	303	Effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis^Citation35	Lancet	2017	390	10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31744-0	Article	28699595
8	Machado, GC	296	Efficacy and safety of paracetamol for spinal pain and osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo controlled trials^Citation36	BMJ – BRrt Med J	2015	350	10.1136/bmj.h1225	Article	25828856
9	Huggins, JP	289	An efficient randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial with the irreversible fatty acid amide hydrolase-1 inhibitor PF-04457845, which modulates endocannabinoids but fails to induce effective analgesia in patients with pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee^Citation37	Pain	2012	153	10.1016/j.pain.2012.04.020	Article	22727500
10	Crossley, KM	275	2016 Patellofemoral pain consensus statement from the 4th International Patellofemoral Pain Research Retreat, Manchester. Part 1: Terminology, definitions, clinical examination, natural history, patellofemoral osteoarthritis and patient-reported outcome measures^Citation38	Brit J Sport Med	2016	50	10.1136/bjsports-2016-096384	Article	27343241

Table 8 Top 10 Institutions Distributed by Publications and Citations

Rank	Institutions	Publications	Total Citations	% of 2493	Institutions	Total Citations	Publications	Average Citation (AC)	AC Rank
1	Boston University	91	4050	3.65%	Boston University	4050	91	45	2
2	The University of Sydney	87	2223	3.49%	University of Nottingham	2330	68	34	6
3	The University of Melbourne	71	1710	2.85%	The University of Sydney	2223	87	26	8
4	University of Nottingham	68	2330	2.73%	Aalborg University	1754	42	42	4
5	University of Florida	59	1153	2.37%	Rush University	1717	40	43	3
7	The University of Alabama at Birmingham	50	1356	2.01%	Northwestern University	1403	35	40	5
6	Duke University	55	1206	2.21%	The University of Melbourne	1710	71	24	9
8	University of Oxford	50	1034	2.01%	The University of Alabama at Birmingham	1356	50	27	7
9	University of California San Francisco	44	1123	1.76%	Tufts University	1254	23	55	1
10	Monash University	43	901	1.72%	Duke University	1206	55	22	10

Figure 11 Network visualization of institutions collaboration.

Neogi T. The epidemiology and impact of pain in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2013;21(9):1145–1153. doi:10.1016/j.joca.2013.03.018

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Beswick AD, Wylde V, Gooberman-Hill R, et al. What proportion of patients report long-term pain after total Hip or knee replacement for osteoarthritis? A systematic review of prospective studies in unselected patients. BMJ Open. 2012;2(1):e000435. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000435

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Ma VY, Chan L, Carruthers KJ. Incidence, prevalence, costs, and impact on disability of common conditions requiring rehabilitation in the United States: stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, limb loss, and back pain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95(5):986–995.e1. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2013.10.032

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Krebs EE, Gravely A, Nugent S, et al. Effect of opioid vs nonopioid medications on pain-related function in patients with chronic back pain or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain: the SPACE randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2018;319(9):872–882. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0899

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

McAlindon TE, LaValley MP, Harvey WF, et al. Effect of intra-articular triamcinolone vs saline on knee cartilage volume and pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2017;317(19):1967–1975. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.5283

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Juhl C, Christensen R, Roos EM, et al. Impact of exercise type and dose on pain and disability in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2014;66(3):622–636. doi:10.1002/art.38290

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

da Costa BR, Reichenbach S, Keller N, et al. Effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis. Lancet. 2017;390(10090):e21–e33. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31744-0

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Machado GC, Maher CG, Ferreira PH, et al. Efficacy and safety of paracetamol for spinal pain and osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo controlled trials. BMJ. 2015;350(mar31 2):h1225. doi:10.1136/bmj.h1225

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Huggins JP, Smart TS, Langman S, et al. An efficient randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial with the irreversible fatty acid amide hydrolase-1 inhibitor PF-04457845, which modulates endocannabinoids but fails to induce effective analgesia in patients with pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee. Pain. 2012;153(9):1837–1846. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2012.04.020

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Crossley KM, Stefanik JJ, Selfe J, et al. 2016 Patellofemoral pain consensus statement from the 4th International Patellofemoral Pain Research Retreat, Manchester. Part 1: terminology, definitions, clinical examination, natural history, patellofemoral osteoarthritis and patient-reported outcome measures. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(14):839–843. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096384

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar