The 50 Most-Cited Publications in Research of Physical Therapy in Osteoarthritis

Abstract Background This study is a bibliometric review of the literature, in order to identify and analyze the 50 most-cited publications in the field of physical therapy in osteoarthritis. Methods A three-step approach was applied in all databases from Web of Science in order to identify the 50 most-cited publications. Related information of the 50 most-cited studies was collected for further analysis, including title, authorship, geographic origin, journal of publication, year of publication, impact factor, and citation numbers. Results The 50 most-cited articles were cited from 970 to 174 times with a mean citation of 287.42 and published from 1989 to 2018 in 24 different journals. Overall, 24 countries contributed to 50 articles and the most productive country was United States with 18 articles and highest sum citations and H-index. A large part of 50 most-cited articles came from Arthritis and Rheumatism, which published 6 articles. Most of the studies focused on exercise therapy in osteoarthritis (n = 36) and randomized controlled clinical trials were reported most (n = 31). The most productive period was from 2001 to 2005. In total, 9 authors published more than two articles. Conclusion This bibliometric analysis is meant to provide a list of milestones in researches of physical therapy in osteoarthritis. Our study identified the most influential articles in the field of physical therapy in osteoarthritis and gave researchers an insight into the development of physical therapy in osteoarthritis.