Background: The quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is garnering increasing attention. However, faced with thousands of relevant clinical literature, it is becoming increasingly difficult for researchers and institutions to identify impactful research. Bibliometrics can help researchers quickly and methodically analyze the impact and hot trends of clinical research, strengthen teamwork, and solve related challenges. Therefore, we used bibliometrics to analyze and visualize data on the QOL of patients with COPD over the past 31 years to understand the key authors, research areas, and future trends.
Methods: We searched the Web of Science Core Collection for literature published since the establishment of the database. The main subject terms used were "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", "quality of life" and their different combinations. Articles were selected and exported in plain text format along with citation information. Bibliometric analysis and data visualization were performed using the R package "bibliometrix" and by incorporating statistical indicators such as the number of publications, citations and outputs of core authors, author collaborations, major journals, major research countries and collaborations, and key research themes.
Results: The bibliometric analysis included 9,219 articles. Document type is unlimited. All publications were published between 1992 and 2022, and the number of published articles increased consistently each year over the past decade, with periodic fluctuations. The European Respiratory Journal and the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease emerged as the most frequently cited journals within this domain. Key authors contributing to this field include Wedzicha JA, Jones PW, Singh D, Holland AE, and Wouters EFM. The United States and the United Kingdom exhibited a high volume of publications, high citation rates, and relatively intense international collaboration in related areas, followed by China, Spain, Canada, and Australia in these metrics. Notably, prominent topics within this field included emphysema, pulmonary rehabilitation, dyspnea, acute exacerbation, living status, and mortality, among others. Future research in this field will focus on microorganisms, particulate matter, family rehabilitation, and Tai Chi.
Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis highlights the growing importance of QOL research in the field of COPD, which can inform clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to prioritize areas for future investigation in order to develop comprehensive, patient-centered strategies. At the same time, it is suggested that researchers should pay more attention to the core authors, strengthen international collaboration and team exchanges, actively explore characteristic clinical featured treatment measures such as Tai Chi and family rehabilitation, carry out clinical research on the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine and self-management, focus more on the QOL, mental health and economic and social burden of patients, and ultimately enhance the well-being of individuals with chronic respiratory diseases.
Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); bibliometrics; quality of life (QOL).
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