Knowledge Mapping of Acupuncture for Fibromyalgia from 1990 to 2022: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Background Fibromyalgia is a rheumatic disease with no specific laboratory markers and is insensitive to hormonal drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs commonly used to treat rheumatism. Guidelines recommend that non-pharmacological therapy should be the first-line treatment for fibromyalgia. Since the publication of the first diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia in 1990, studies on acupuncture for fibromyalgia have been reported periodically. This study aims to explore the intellectual landscape of acupuncture for fibromyalgia since 1990, and to identify research trends and fronts in this field. Methods The Web of Science Core Collection Database was searched for publications on acupuncture for fibromyalgia from 1990 to 2022. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze the annual publication, countries, institutions, authors and cited authors, journals and cited journals, references and keywords. Results A total of 280 publications were retrieved, and the number of publications showed an overall upward trend. The United States was the most productive country. China Medical University was the institution with the most publications. Lin Yi-wen was the most prolific author, while Wolfe was the most cited author. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine was the journal in which most of the research was published, while Pain was the most cited journal. An article by Wolfe (1990) had the most citations, but an article by Crofford (2001) had the highest centrality. The four most frequently used keywords in the included articles were mechanism, spinal cord, activation and sensitivity. Conclusion Acupuncture can effectively relieve pain in patients with fibromyalgia and improve accompanying symptoms such as anxiety and depression. However, the design of clinical trials still needs to be optimized to better verify the efficacy of acupuncture on various clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia. Exploring the central analgesic mechanism of acupuncture on fibromyalgia is also the focus research direction now and future.

Bibliometric and Visual Analysis in the Field of Dry Needling for Myofascial Pain Syndrome from 2000 to 2022

“…When the values of Q and S are greater than 0.3 and 0.5, respectively, it ensures the credibility of the clustering structure and the reliability of the findings. 17 Else, keyword co-occurrence analysis and the detection of keyword burst intensity also contribute to the unveiling of research hotspots and anticipated future trends in this field.…”

Frontiers and hotspots in hand, foot, and mouth disease research during 2006 to 2023: A bibliometric and visual analysis

“…It ultimately proved the efficacy of the EV71 vaccine in preventing HFMD or herpangina associated with EV71 in infants and young children, providing important reference value for EV71 prevention and gaining widespread attention in subsequent research. [ 18 ] In Figure 7 , the blue line represents the time interval and the red line represents the burst duration. The first cited explosion occurred in 2013 and originated from an article published in 2010.…”

Fibromyalgia, Pain, and Physical Activity: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Although other bibliometric studies related to FM exist, they did not comply with traditional bibliometric laws, and they used different methodologies compared with this study. Moreover, the covered topics were different, including FM and biomechanics, FM research, juvenile primary FM syndrome, acupuncture, and the top 100 Cited Articles on Fibromyalgia Syndrome [43][44][45][46][47].…”

“…In the scientific bibliography, FM and PA research can be found, including crosssectional studies [36,37], randomized controlled trials [38,39], systematic reviews and metaanalyses [11,40,41], and scoping reviews [23,42]. However, although other bibliometric analyses on FM exist [43][44][45][46][47], no bibliometric studies related to FM, pain, and PA have been found. The mapping of an area of scientific knowledge through a bibliometric analysis is useful to provide essential information to researchers, such as identifying research opportunities, trends in scientific production, and substantiating scientific research, among other utilities [48].…”