Research Trends on Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain Treatment Over the Past 15 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Objective

Currently, acupuncture for shoulder pain has been widely used in clinical and scientific research worldwide, but the bibliometric literature on acupuncture for shoulder pain is still scarce. This study reviews the application of acupuncture in the treatment of shoulder pain over the past 15 years, to analyze the current state of research, research hotspots, and trends. The article can also provide a reference for future research.

Methods

This paper searches the core collection of the Web of Science database for publications related to acupuncture therapy for shoulder pain between 2008 and 2022. And the data were visualized and analyzed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace for annual publications, countries, institutions, journals and co-cited journals, authors and co-cited authors, keywords, and emergent keywords.

Results

A total of 135 papers were included, with an overall increasing trend in the number of annual publications. The country with the highest centrality in publishing articles is the United States (0.28). In terms of research institutions, Kyung Hee University has the highest number of publications (18). In terms of authors, Lewith George, Lind Klaus, MacPherson Hugh, Sherman Karen J, and Vickers Andrew J are the five most published authors. Vickers, Andrew J. is the most co-cited author (50 times). In terms of journals, PAIN has the highest number of publications (82) and co-cited frequency (232), while the highest impact factor was BMJ-BRIT MED J (96.216). “Acupuncture” was the most frequently mentioned keyword (65 times), with the keyword “protocol” appearing the most recently. Emerging keywords that are still in vogue are “stroke”, “systematic review” and “stimulation”.

Conclusion

This study provides statistics on current research on the treatment of shoulder pain with acupuncture, which may be able to inform future research directions for all researchers and physicians, as well as facilitate closer communication and collaboration.

Keywords:

• shoulder pain
• acupuncture
• bibliometric analysis
• VOSviewer
• CiteSpace

Data Sharing Statement

The raw data can be directly obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC).

Ethics Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author Contributions

All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; agreed to submit to the current journal; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LY22H270006, by Zhejiang Chinese Medical University under grant numbers 2022FSYYZZ109, and by National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 81774389.