Research progress on meibomian gland dysfunction from 2011 to 2020: a bibliometric and visualized analysis

Abstract

Background To explore the research areas, hotspots, and progress of meibomian gland dysfunction through bibliometrics. Methods Related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection from 2011 to 2020. VOSviewer1.6.16, Citespace.5.7.R2, and GraphPad Prism 8 were used to visualize the distribution of countries, research institutions, journals, authors, keywords, and annual publication numbers in this field. Results A total number of 716 relevant publications were retrieved. The United States and Keio University ranked the first among the countries and organizations with the most publications. Cornea, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, and Ocular Surface were the top three journals with the highest publication counts and citations. The authors who contributed to this topic mainly formed three clusters which manifested the research areas, and the extracted keywords mainly formed four clusters which manifested the hotspots were explored. Conclusions The research areas and hotspots of meibomian gland dysfunction were as follow: (1) Pathogenesis or potential etiology of meibomian gland dysfunction; (2) Diagnosis of meibomian gland dysfunction; (3) Therapy of meibomian gland dysfunction and the International Workshop`s dedication to it; (4) Epidemiology of meibomian gland dysfunction.