Research Trends from 2010 to 2020 for Pain Treatment with Acupuncture: A Bibliometric Analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1 The number of acupuncture treatment for pain publications from 2010 to 2020.

Table 1 The Top 10 Journals with the Highest Frequency of Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Journal^a	IF 2019^b	Country
1	366	Evid-based Compl Alt	1.813	United States
2	238	Acupunct Med	2.129	England
3	162	J Altern Complem Med	2.109	United States
4	148	Medicine	1.552	United States
5	117	Trials	1.883	England
6	95	Complement Ther Med	2.063	England
7	88	BMC Complement Altern Med	2.833	England
8	73	Plos One	2.74	United States
9	65	Cochrane Db Syst Rev	7.89	England
10	65	Eur J Integr Med	0.974	Germany

Notes: ^aJournal names according to Index of Medical Journal Abbreviations; ^bIF in category according to Journal Citation Reports (2019).

Abbreviation: IF, impact factor.

Table 2 The Top 5 Cited Journals with the Highest Frequency of Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Cited Journal^a	IF 2019^b	Country
1	2270	Pain	5.483	United States
2	1669	J Altern Complem Med	2.109	United States
3	1613	Evid-based Compl Alt	1.813	United States
4	1585	Acupunct Med	2.129	England
5	1368	Cochrane Db Syst Rev	7.89	England

Notes: ^aJournal names according to Index of Medical Journal Abbreviations; ^bIF in category according to Journal Citation Reports (2019).

Abbreviation: IF, impact factor.

Table 3 Top 5 Cited Journals with the Highest Centrality Associated with Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Centrality	Cited Journal^a	IF 2019^b	Country
1	0.04	Pain	5.483	United States
2	0.03	J Neurosci	5.673	United States
3	0.03	J Appl Physiol	3.044	United States
4	0.03	J Adv Nurs	2.561	England
5	0.02	Brain Res	2.733	Netherlands

Notes: ^aJournal names according to Index of Medical Journal Abbreviations; ^bIF in category according to Journal Citation Reports (2019).

Abbreviation: IF, impact factor.

Table 4 Top 5 Countries Related to Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Country	Ranking	Centrality	Country
1	1252	China	1	0.46	United States
2	1143	United States	2	0.27	England
3	439	South Korea	3	0.16	China
4	370	England	4	0.12	Italy
5	253	Germany	5	0.09	Germany

Figure 2 A country cooperation map related to acupuncture treatment for pain research from 2010 to 2020.

Table 5 Top 5 Institutions Related to Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Institution	Ranking	Centrality	Institution
1	228	Kyung Hee University	1	0.2	Kyung Hee University
2	137	Beijing University Chinese Medicine	2	0.19	University of Maryland
3	131	Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences	3	0.17	China Medical University
4	119	Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine	4	0.14	Harvard university
5	117	China Medical University	5	0.13	Beijing University Chinese Medicine

Figure 3 An institution cooperation map related to acupuncture treatment for pain research from 2010 to 2020.

Table 6 Top 5 Active Authors Related to Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Author	Ranking	Centrality	Author
1	51	Lee MS	1	0.12	Lao LX
2	49	Liang FR	2	0.11	Napadow V
3	48	MacPherson H	3	0.11	Kong J
4	44	Lao LX	4	0.09	Liu JP
5	32	Ha IN	5	0.08	MacPherson H

Figure 4 A coauthor map related to acupuncture treatment for pain research from 2010 to 2020.

Table 7 Top 5 Cited Authors Related to Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Cited Author	Ranking	Centrality	Cited Author
1	577	MacPherson H	1	0.07	Kong J
2	534	Han JS	2	0.05	Itoh K
3	500	Vickers AJ	3	0.05	Cherkin DC
4	420	Linde K	4	0.05	Lund Irene
5	383	Ernst E	5	0.04	White P

Table 8 The Top 5 Cited References for the Highest Frequency of Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Cited Reference	Representative Author (Publication Year)
1	322	Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis	Vickers (2012)^Citation5
2	165	Neural mechanism underlying acupuncture analgesia	Zhao (2008)^Citation6
3	142	German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups	Haake (2007)^Citation7
4	124	Mechanisms of acupuncture-electroacupuncture on persistent pain	Zhang (2014)^Citation8
5	120	A randomized trial comparing acupuncture, simulated acupuncture, and usual care for chronic low back pain	Cherkin (2009)^Citation9

Table 9 The Top 5 Cited References for the Highest Centrality of Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Centrality	Cited Reference	Representative Author (Publication Year)
1	0.11	German Randomized Acupuncture Trial for chronic shoulder pain (GRASP) – a pragmatic, controlled, patient-blinded, multi-centre trial in an outpatient care environment	Molsberger (2010)^Citation10
2	0.07	Traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo (sham) acupuncture are differentiated by their effects on mu-opioid receptors (MORs)	Harris (2009)^Citation11
3	0.07	Effectiveness of dry needling for upper-quarter myofascial pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis	Kietrys (2013)^Citation12
4	0.07	Acupuncture for acute low back pain: a systematic review	Lee (2007)^Citation13
5	0.06	The effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chronic non-specific low back pain: a systematic review of the literature	Hutchinson (2012)^Citation14

Figure 5 Reference cocitation map related to acupuncture treatment for pain research from 2010 to 2020.

Table 10 Top 10 Keywords Related to Acupuncture Treatment for Pain

Ranking	Frequency	Keyword	Ranking	Centrality	Keyword
1	2206	Acupuncture	1	0.03	Complementary and alternative medicine
2	1290	Pain	2	0.03	Disorder
3	621	Electroacupuncture	3	0.03	Myofascial pain
4	577	Management	4	0.03	Acupuncture analgesia
5	490	Low back pain	5	0.03	Randomized trial
6	418	Randomized controlled trial	6	0.03	Expectancy
7	358	Therapy	7	0.03	Integrative medicine
8	285	Mechanism	8	0.03	Inflammation
9	276	Efficacy	9	0.03	Risk factor
10	275	Prevalence	10	0.03	Acupuncture treatment

Figure 6 Keyword co-occurrence map related to acupuncture treatment for pain research from 2010 to 2020.

Figure 7 Top 20 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.

Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(19):1444–1453. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.3654

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Zhao ZQ. Neural mechanism underlying acupuncture analgesia. Prog Neurobiol. 2008;85(4):355–375.

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Haake M, Müller HH, Schade-Brittinger C, et al. German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(17):1892–1898. doi:10.1001/Archinte.167.17.1892

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Zhang R, Lao L, Ren K, Berman BM. Mechanisms of acupuncture-electroacupuncture on persistent pain. Anesthesiology. 2014;120(2):482–503. doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000000101

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Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Avins AL, et al. A randomized trial comparing acupuncture, simulated acupuncture, and usual care for chronic low back pain. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(9):858–866. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2009.65

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Harris RE, Zubieta JK, Scott DJ, Napadow V, Gracely RH, Clauw DJ. Traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo (sham) acupuncture are differentiated by their effects on mu-opioid receptors (MORs). NeuroImage. 2009;47(3):1077–1085. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.083

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Kietrys DM, Palombaro KM, Azzaretto E, et al. Effectiveness of dry needling for upper-quarter myofascial pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2013;43(9):620–634. doi:10.2519/jospt.2013.4668

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Lee JH, Choi TY, Lee MS, Lee H, Shin BC, Lee H. Acupuncture for acute low back pain: a systematic review. Clin J Pain. 2013;29(2):172–185. doi:10.1097/AJP.0b013e31824909f9

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Li R, Sun J, Hu H, et al. Research trends of acupuncture therapy on knee osteoarthritis from 2010 to 2019: a bibliometric analysis. J Pain Res. 2020;13:1901–1913. doi:10.2147/JPR.S258739

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