Visual science mapping and future direction of pediatric acupuncture: a bibliometric analysis from Scopus database and VOSviewer

Abstract

Introduction: Pediatric acupuncture is an interesting subject to study along with strengthening the current development of acupuncture therapy. Not only for adults, but acupuncture is also safe for children. There have been many studies on acupuncture, but publications related to acupuncture for children are still very few compared to adults. The purpose of this study is to visually map and guide future research on Pediatric acupuncture based on bibliometric analysis. Method: We conducted this study from September 16 to 19, 2022. Publications regarding pediatric acupuncture were extracted from the Scopus database. The search strategy included two keywords: (ACUPUNCTURE)*(PEDIATRIC). The final result was acquired by searching those keywords without limitation because the number of articles was less than 1000. We used VOSviewer and bibliometric indicators to generate a maps-based data network from all keywords-related studies showing association among journals, countries, publication frequency, authors, and citations. Keywords were used to infer pediatric acupuncture. A total of 669 documents related to pediatric acupuncture were retrieved. This includes 432 articles, 176 reviews, and 16 conference papers. Results: A total of 10,918 citations have been recorded for all publications with an h-index count of 52. The first relevant study is dated on 1966. Since then, there has been a steady increase in total publications each year whereas 2021 as the most productive year with 53 publications. The Medical Acupuncture Journal (25) was the most prolific journal. The United States of America (298) and China (54) are the most productive country and institutions. The article entitled Clinical Practice Guideline: Allergic rhinitis by Seidman et al. (386) is the most cited reference.   Conclusion: The benefit and potential of acupuncture for several diseases in pediatric patients are promising and no adverse side effects have been reported.