Abstract
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disabling disease characterized by chronic inflammation, articular cartilage destruction, and reduced bone mass. Multiple studies have revealed that the development of osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA; ORA) patients could be led to a reduced quality of life and increased healthcare costs. Nevertheless, no attempt has been made to analyze the field of ORA research with the bibliometric method. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and theme trends in the field of ORA research from a bibliometric perspective.Methods: Articles and reviews regarding ORA from 1998 to 2021 were identified from the Web of Science database. An online bibliometric platform, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software were used to generate visualization knowledge maps including co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence analysis. SPSS, R, and Microsoft Excel software were used to conduct curve fitting and correlation analysis, and to analyze quantitative indicators, such as publication and citation counts, h-index, and journal citation reports.Results: A total of 1,081 papers with 28,473 citations were identified. Publications were mainly concentrated in North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Asia. Economic strength is an important factor affecting scientific output. The United States contributed the most publications (213) with the highest h-index value (46) as of September 14, 2021. Diakonhjemmet Hospital and professor Haugeberg G were the most prolific institution and influential authors, respectively. Journal of Rheumatology was the most productive journal concerning ORA research. According to the burst references, “anti-citrullinated protein antibodies” and “preventing joint destruction” have been recognized as the hot research issues in the domain. The keywords co-occurrence analysis identified “teriparatide,” “interleukin-6,” “Wnt,” and “vertebral fractures” as the important future research directions.Conclusion: This was the first bibliometric study comprehensively summarizing the trends and development of ORA research. Our findings could offer practical sources for scholars to understand the key information in this field, and identify the potential research frontiers and hot directions in the near future.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder with a nearly 1% prevalence in the global population and is generally associated with significant morbidity and mortality [1]
Despite the appearance of the volatility to decrease at some time points, the annual number of publications related to ORA showed an ascending tendency as a whole and reached its peak in 2019 with a total of 85 documents, which comprised 7.86% of the total quantity
With an in-depth understanding of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoporosis, the role of osteoporosis in RA has gradually attracted the attention of scholars as reflected from both annual publications and citations quantity
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder with a nearly 1% prevalence in the global population and is generally associated with significant morbidity and mortality [1]. A hallmark feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease, causes articular cartilage destruction and bone erosion, which subsequently leads to generalized osteoporosis with reduced bone mass [2, 3]. Development of osteoporosis in RA (hereafter ORA) patients results in a further reduced quality of life and increased healthcare costs. Data from the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases in the USA suggested that osteoporotic fracture was the third leading cause of mortality in RA patients [1]. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disabling disease characterized by chronic inflammation, articular cartilage destruction, and reduced bone mass. Multiple studies have revealed that the development of osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA; ORA) patients could be led to a reduced quality of life and increased healthcare costs. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and theme trends in the field of ORA research from a bibliometric perspective
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