Clinical research for low back pain in Turkiye: analysis of PubMed-indexed randomized controlled trials

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 6, 638 - 642, 27.10.2024

Mahir Topaloğlu , Enes Efe İş

Abstract

Aims: Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent condition and a major contributor to disability worldwide. Despite bibliometric analyses of LBP literature, no study has specifically explored Turkiye’s contribution to this field through randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This study aims to examine the characteristics of Turkiye-based RCTs on LBP, utilizing PubMed, the most frequently used biomedical search engine.
Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed using the terms “low back pain [Title]” and “(Turkiye) OR (Turkiye).” Only interventional RCTs were included. Data points such as publication year, open-access status, first author’s specialty, study content, journal quartile (Web of Science), and citation count (Google Scholar) were analyzed.
Results: Most publications are authored by Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) specialists (26) and physiotherapists (24), with emergency medicine specialists (6) in third place. The number of publications increased over time, peaking in 2021 (10). Most publications appeared in Q1-Q2-Q3 journals (67). The average citation count is 46.9, median is 29, ranging from 0 to 305, with citation counts strongly influenced by publication year (p<0.001). The most common research topics are Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) (15), Physical Therapy Agents (14), and Injections (10). PMR specialists have more citations than other groups (p=0.001). Open access status did not significantly affect citation counts (p=0.277).
Conclusion: Turkiye-based RCTs on low back pain have steadily increased, with PMR specialists and physiotherapists leading the field. Publications are primarily found in high-impact journals. Key research topics include CAM, physical therapy agents, and injections.

Keywords

Low back pain, randomized controlled trial, Turkiye, bibliometric analysis, PubMed

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