Mapping knowledge landscapes and emerging trends of the links between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis: A bibliometric analysis

Background Osteoarthritis has the characteristics of degenerative changes in articular cartilage and secondary osteoporosis, and it is a common chronic irreversible joint disease. In addition to affecting articular cartilage, subchondral bone, joint capsule and synovial membrane also undergo pathological changes during the development of the disease. Multiple studies have revealed that patients with osteoarthritis were found to have a significantly increased risk of osteoporosis, which also contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis. However, in the current existing studies, we found that no scholars have used bibliometric analysis in the study of the relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. From the perspective of bibliometrics, this study summarizes in detail the degree of cooperation between countries, research institutions, authors, and related journals in the field of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis research and their respective influence. In this way, the evolution of knowledge structure, the change of research focus and the hot topics with research potential in the future can be further visualized and analyzed. Methods Search the Web of Science core collection in Science Citation Index Expanded for articles and reviews of research on osteoarthritis and osteoporosis from 1998 to 2021. Bibliometric tools such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, were be frequently used in our study. They are mainly used to analyze collaborations between countries, research institutions, and publication authors. Meantime, co-citation analysis of journals, co-occurrence analysis of keywords and subject categories will also be reflected in the study. Results According to the search strategy, 1,078 publications were included during the period 1998–2021. And the number of annual publications on the relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis is on the rise. The United States has achieved the most and contributed the most in this field and the Boston University was the most prolific institution. For the statistical analysis of published publications, Reginster JY had the highest number of publications, while Felson DT had the highest co-citation frequency. Respectively, Osteoarthritis And Cartilage was the most productive journal in this area of research. The keywords “inflammation,” “expression,” and “mesenchymal stem cells” may also be the development trend and research hotspot of the future research direction in this field. Conclusions In our study, the relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis was analyzed by using literature measurement. These analysis results can lead researchers to learn more directly about the trend in this area and provide guidance for determining popular research directions.