Research Relating to Low Back Pain and Physical Activity Reported Over the Period of 2000–2020

• Main Authors: Yan W, Yu Y, Wang Y, Jiang X, Wan R, Ji C, Shi L, Wang X
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-08-01
• Series: Journal of Pain Research
• Subjects: low back pain; physical activity; research trends; web of science
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/research-relating-to-low-back-pain-and-physical-activity-reported-over-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-JPR

Wangwang Yan,1,2,&ast; Yanling Yu,1,2,&ast; Yafei Wang,1 Xue Jiang,1,2 Ruihan Wan,1,3 Chang Ji,1,4 Le Shi,1 Xueqiang Wang,2 Yuling Wang1 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China; 4Postgraduate Research Institute, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xueqiang WangDepartment of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, 188 Hengren Road, Shanghai, 200438, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail] WangDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 26 Erheng Road, Yuancun, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510655, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail]: Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal disorder that contributes to the greatest degree of disability worldwide. It has become a very serious public health problem that has attracted considerable research interest. The number of publications associated with LBP and physical activity (PA) is gradually increasing. Nevertheless, few studies have utilised visualisation in analysing the general aspects of this field. Therefore, we aimed to provide a systematic overview of global scientific research related to low back pain and physical activity from 2000 to 2020. It has significant benefits in terms of providing researchers with the status and trends of research on low back pain and physical activity.Methods: Publications on Science Citation Index-Expanded of Web of Science from 2000 to 2020 were searched, and publications relevant to LBP and PA were analysed using Citespace and SPSS. Analyses mainly included cooperation amongst authors, countries and institutions; co-occurrence analysis of keywords; and co-citation analysis of references, revealing productive researchers and contributing institutions tracking the status and trend of research fields.Results: Results of linear regression analysis showed that the number of publications on LBP and PA studies increased significantly (p< 0.001). The subject categories predominantly focused on orthopaedics (2579, 26.54%), rehabilitation (2544, 26.18%) and sport sciences (2015, 25.44%). The United States had the highest number of published papers (2700, 27.789%) and citations (86, 958). In terms of the number of publications, amongst the top 20 journals, Spine contributed the most, whilst the British Journal of Sports Medicine had the highest impact factor (IF2019, 12.022). The University of Sydney had the highest number of publications (330 publications). Maher published the most papers (123 papers) and had the highest H-index (41). Several citation articles and keywords (such as aerobic, obesity and fear-avoidance beliefs) can be used to provide frontier clues for research on LBP and PA.Conclusion: The results of our study may provide information, such as research trends and frontiers of research and collaborating partners, institutions and countries, on LBP and PA.Keywords: low back pain, physical activity, research trends, Web of Science