Bibliometric Analysis of Research Trends on Manual Therapy for Low Back Pain Over Past 2 Decades

Abstract

Purpose

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal disorder, and manual therapy (MT) is frequently employed as a non-pharmacological treatment for LBP. This study aims to explore the research hotspots and trends in MT for LBP. MT has gained widespread acceptance in clinical practice due to its proven safety and effectiveness. The study aims to analyze the developments in the field of MT for LBP over the past 23 years, including leading countries, institutions, authoritative authors, journals, keywords, and references. It endeavors to provide a comprehensive summary of the existing research foundation and to analyze the current cutting-edge research trends.

Methods

Relevant articles between 2000 and 2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. We used the software VOSviewer and CiteSpace to perform the analysis and summarize current research hotspots and emerging trends.

Results

Through screening, we included 1643 papers from 2000 to 2023. In general, the number of articles published each year showed an upward trend. The United States had the highest number of publications and citations. Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College was the most published research institution. The University of Pittsburgh in the United States had the most collaboration with other research institutions. Long, Cynthia R. was the active author. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics was the most prolific journal with 234 publications.

Conclusion

This study provides an overview of the current status and trends of clinical studies on MT for LBP in the past 23 years using the visualization software, which may help researchers identify potential collaborators and collaborating institutions, hot topics, and new perspectives in research frontiers, while providing new clinical practice ideas for the treatment of LBP.

Keywords:

• CiteSpace
• VOSviewer
• bibliometric analysis
• back pain
• manual therapy

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professor Chen for developing CiteSpace and Professors Van, Eck and Ludo Waltman for developing the VOSviewer and providing them to us for free. This work was supported by the Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center to promote municipal hospital clinical skills and clinical innovation ability three-year action plan project (Project Number SHDC2022CRD004) and Military high-level scientific and technological Innovation personnel project (Project Number (2020) QN06128).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.