A Bibliometric Analysis of Acupuncture Treatment of Osteoarthritis over the past 20 Years: 2003−2022

Abstract

This study uses bibliometric methods to analyze publications regarding the use of acupuncture in osteoarthritis over the past 20 years and presents an overview of global research trends. Publications related to acupuncture in osteoarthritis from 2003 to 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection Database. An analysis of the extracted records was conducted according to their publication year, research area, journal title, country, organization, author, and keywords. The VOSviewer program was used to visualize the research trends on acupuncture in osteoarthritis. An analysis of 380 articles indicated a consistent increase in the use of acupuncture for osteoarthritis treatment over the past 20 years. Many articles have been published in research areas such as "integrative complementary medicine" and "general internal medicine." The most prolific journal was Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. In terms of article publication, the most productive country and research organization were China and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, respectively. The most frequently occurring keywords were "acupuncture," "knee osteoarthritis," and "pain." This study used a bibliometric analysis to provide an overview of global research trends on acupuncture in osteoarthritis. These findings may suggest the future direction of research on the treatment of acupuncture in osteoarthritis.