A scientometric study on research trends and characteristics of oral leukoplakia and oral lichen planus.

Background/purpose: Oral leukoplakia (OLK) and oral lichen planus (OLP) represent two common oral potentially malignant disorders. It would be interesting to know scientific output and characteristics of studies on OLK and OLP.

Materials and methods: This study aimed to investigate and compare scientometric characteristics of articles on OLK and OLP in the Scopus database, with emphasis on the analysis of the keywords that can reflect research directions and topics of concern.

Results: A total of 1,191 and 2,288 papers on OLK and OLP were retrieved in the Scopus database, respectively. The total citation count was 31,859 and the h index was 75 for articles on OLK, and the total count was 55,491 and the h index was 93 for articles on OLP. For OLK research, oral cancer-related cancer risk, cancer diagnosis, carcinogenesis, prognosis, tumor marker, e.g. protein P53 and Ki-67, risk assessment, e.g. tongue site, tobacco and alcohol consumption were distinctive frequent keywords. For OLP research, drug efficacy, immunosuppressive agents, e.g. corticosteroid, triamcinolone acetonide, tacrolimus, and glucocorticoids, inflammation-related T lymphocyte, lymphocytic infiltration, cytokines, e.g. gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin 6, complication, e.g. hepatitis C and diabetes mellitus, and scoring system-related visual analog scale, pain, anxiety, quality of life, depression, and questionnaire were distinctive keywords.

Conclusion: This study elucidated the comprehensive identification and recognition of the important and relevant research topics concerned, and encouraged more studies in the field of OLK and OLP to refine management strategies of these diseases.