What Has Changed? A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Research in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Introduction:People around the world are affected by traumatic experiences, ranging from collective events like natural disasters, mass violence, war, terrorism and to personal, even "everyday life" traumas such as road traffic accidents and the sudden football attack. The mTBI caused by traumatic events is a significant public health international matter. There is a greater demand for mTBI research from all cultures and societies. This paper attempts to explore the research status, focus and challenges by using a bibliometric analysis on mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).Method:Publications on mTBI were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection by the title advanced search strategy from January 1, 2000, to October 31, 2022. Articles and reviews were included, and no language restrictions were applied. Microsoft Excel, RStudio, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace were used to extract, integrate and visualize the bibliometric information.Results:A total of 3,464 documents were retrieved from 2000-2022, with a general upward trend despite slight fluctuations in annual publications. The USA had an overwhelmingly dominant position in terms of both the number of publications (n = 2 028) and citations (n = 63 287). The Department of Veterans Affairs (n = 380) and Veterans Health Administration (n = 370) were the most productive institutions. Collaborations in cross-national, cross-institutional and different authors were weak. Iverson GL was the leading scholar and the Journal of Neurotrauma and Brain Injury were the most influential journals. Based on keyword co-occurrence analysis, the research focus could be divided into four clusters: epidemiology and prevention, characterization of mTBI, outcome assessment and prognosis.Conclusion:The mTBI research has drawn increasing attention over the years. However, the research on mTBI is still relatively limited and challenging, and collaborations that cross national, institutional, disciplinary, and sector boundaries are important to the advancement of improving mTBI worldwide.