Objective: To identify global research trends in three therapies for children with cerebral palsy.
Data retrieval: We performed a bibliometric analysis of studies on therapies for children with cerebral palsy from 2002 to 2011 retrieved from Web of Science.
Inclusion criteria: (a) peer-reviewed published articles on botulinum toxin, constraint-induced movement therapy, or acupuncture for children with cerebral palsy indexed in Web of Science; (b) original research articles, reviews, meeting abstracts, proceedings papers, book chapters, editorial material, and news items; and (c) publication between 2002 and 2011.
Exclusion criteria: (a) articles that required manual searching or telephone access; (b) documents that were not published in the public domain; and (c) a number of corrected papers from the total number of articles.
Main outcome measures: (1) Number of publications on the three therapies; (2) annual publication output, distribution by journals, distribution by institution, and top-cited articles on botulinum toxin; (3) annual publication output, distribution by journal, distribution by institution, and top-cited articles on constraint-induced movement therapy; (4) annual publication, distribution by journal, distribution by institution, and top-cited articles on acupuncture.
Results: This analysis, based on Web of Science articles, identified several research trends in studies published over the past 10 years of three therapies for children with cerebral palsy. More articles on botulinum toxin for treating children with cerebral palsy were published than the articles regarding constraint-induced movement therapy or acupuncture. The numbers of publications increased over the 10-year study period. Most papers appeared in journals with a focus on neurology, such as Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology and Journal of Child Neurology. Research institutes publishing on botulinum toxin treatments for this population are mostly in the Netherlands, the United States of America, and Australia; those publishing on constraint-induced movement therapy are mostly in Australia and the United States of America; and those publishing on acupuncture are mostly in China, Sweden and the United States of America.
Conclusion: Analysis of literature and research trends indicated that there was no one specific therapy to cure cerebral palsy. Further studies are still necessary.
Keywords: Web of Science; acupuncture; bibliometric; botulinum toxin; brain; cerebral palsy; children; constraint-induced movement therapy; infant; nerve injury; neural regeneration.