Global Trends and Frontiers of Age-Related Macular Degeneration From 2002 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract Introduction: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment and severe vision loss, with the number of cases expected to increase because of the aging population. However, many aspects of AMD, including how it works and how it is treated, have yet to be elucidated. This study aims to identify and evaluate the global trends in AMD research over the last twenty years and visualize the frontiers using bibliometric analysis. Methods: We collected all the publications on AMD from 2002 to 2021, analyzed trends within them, and defined the contributions of various countries/regions, institutions, core authors, and journals. Additionally, we used VOSviewer and CiteSpace software to combine networks and define the hot keywords in this field. AMD citation network was visualized using CitNetExplorer. Results: In total, 16,145 publications on myopia were retrieved from 2001 to 2021. The United States has contributed the most publications (6,081) and the most citations (307,164). Holz FG contributed to the most publications, and Klein R had the most citations. Ophthalmology was the journal with the highest number of citations, and Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science had the maximum number of publications. The top 10 cited papers mainly focused on the therapeutic target. Keywords analysis and Citation network analysis were clustered into four groups: mechanisms, treatment, feature and classification, and prevalence, among which “mechanisms” was the largest cluster. Conclusions: With the increasing prevalence of AMD, mechanisms for AMD control are a potential research hotspot and pressing public health issue. These results helped clarify the comprehensive research progress that has been made as well as the future trends in the study of AMD, which can assist and guide future research.