Abstract
Scientific productivity on motor neuron disease (MND) research has been hypothesized to be low in Southeast Asia (SEA). To investigate the scientific productivity of SEA countries on MND and the associations between research metric indices and various country-specific socioeconomic parameters. We searched electronic databases for relevant articles from SEA on MND from the earliest indexed record to June 30, 2020. We obtained the following research productivity indices: bibliometric (number of publications in journals with impact factor (IF) and Scopus citations) and altmetric indices (PlumX metrics). We also collected data from published literature and reliable sources on the following socioeconomic variables: population, gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, %GDP allocated for research and development (R&D) and the number of neurologists per country. We included 196 articles that satisfied our inclusion criteria. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis studies comprised the majority of the articles (n = 112; 57.1%). The top three countries in terms of the numbers of publications in journals with IF and in PlumX metrics were Singapore (n = 129), Malaysia (n = 26), and Thailand (n = 18). GDP per capita, %GDP for R&D and number of neurologists per one million population had strong positive correlations with the bibliometric and altmetric indices. This study highlights that although the scientific productivity of MND research in SEA has been low, it is continuously growing. This also emphasizes the imperative to improve economic indices and the number of neurologists in SEA to enhance scientific output on MND.
Highlights
Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) are a group of heterogenous disorders characterized by degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, which causes progressive weakness and motor dysfunction and results in significant disability with a high fatality rate[1]
They consist of distinct disease entities such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its variants/mimics, i.e. progressive bulbar palsy (PBP), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), Madras motor neuron disease (MMND) and monomelic amyotrophy (MA); along with spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) or Kennedy disease, hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and post-polio syndrome (PPS)[2,3,4,5]
All studies involving humans conducted in any of the Southeast Asia (SEA) countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam) or animal models for MNDs or in-vitro laboratory studies on pathophysiology, genetics, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of ALS and its mimics or variants (PBP, PMA, PLS, MMND and MA), SBMA, HSP, SMA and PPS with at least one author affiliated with any institution in the SEA countries that were published in English, or in any other language provided that they had an English abstract, were considered for inclusion
Summary
Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) are a group of heterogenous disorders characterized by degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, which causes progressive weakness and motor dysfunction and results in significant disability with a high fatality rate[1] They consist of distinct disease entities such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its variants/mimics, i.e. progressive bulbar palsy (PBP), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), Madras motor neuron disease (MMND) and monomelic amyotrophy (MA); along with spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) or Kennedy disease, hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and post-polio syndrome (PPS)[2,3,4,5]. There is heterogeneity in terms of genetic pattern, clinical presentation and survival rate among patients with MNDs between Western and Asian populations[10] In this context, there is an undeniable need to advance MND research productivity in Asia.
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