The rise of registry-based research: a bibliometric analysis

Emilio   Romanini; Irene Schettini; Marina Torre; Michele Venosa; Alessio Tarantino; Vittorio Calvisi; Gustavo Zanoli

doi:10.1080/17453674.2021.1937459

Authors

Emilio Romanini RomaPro Center for Hip and Knee Arthroplasty, Polo Sanitario San Feliciano, Rome, Italy; GLOBE, Italian Working Group on Evidence Based Orthopaedics, Rome
Irene Schettini Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome
Marina Torre Scientific Secretariat of the Presidency, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome
Michele Venosa RomaPro Center for Hip and Knee Arthroplasty, Polo Sanitario San Feliciano, Rome, Italy
Alessio Tarantino MeSVA Department, University of L’Aquila
Vittorio Calvisi MeSVA Department, University of L’Aquila
Gustavo Zanoli GLOBE, Italian Working Group on Evidence Based Orthopaedics, Rome; Casa di Cura Santa Maria Maddalena, Occhiobello, RO, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2021.1937459

Abstract

Background and purpose — The main purpose of arthroplasty registries is to collect information on patients, techniques, and devices to monitor and improve the outcome of the specific procedure. This study analyses the role played by registries in the orthopedic research community and describes publication trends, characteristics, and patterns of this field of research.

Patients and methods — A descriptive-bibliometric review was conducted. Scopus was the database used for the research. All articles published from 1991 to December 2020 containing keywords related to registries and arthro- plasty were considered. In particular, the following dimen- sions were analyzed in detail: (i) papers/year; (ii) journals; (iii) countries; (iv) research growth rate; (v) collaboration among countries. VOSviewer software was used to perform the bibliometric analysis. Finally, the 50 most cited papers of the last 10 years were briefly analyzed.

Results — 3,933 articles were identified. There has been growing interest in the topic since 2010. Acta Orthopaedica ranked first for the number of articles published. The country with the largest number of articles citing registries was the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Sweden. The relative number of articles per 100,000 inhabitants is 0.60 for Europe and 0.38 for the United States. The literature in this research area has an average yearly growth rate of 28%.

Interpretation — The publication rate in the field of arthroplasty registries is constantly growing with a notewor- thy impact in the evolution of this research and clinical area. The growth rate is significantly higher than that of arthro- plasty literature (28% vs. 10%) and the collaboration among countries is strong and increasing with time.