Bibliometric analysis of literature in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases rehabilitation: growing numbers, reducing impact factor.

OBJECTIVES: To explore temporal trends, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic determinants of scientific production in the field of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease (CCD) rehabilitation. DATA SOURCES: Citations from 1967 to 2008 were downloaded from the PubMed database. Core of the search strategy was the key word cardiovascular diseases in the Medical Subject Headings major field with the subheading rehabilitation. Journal Citation Reports was used to assign an impact factor (IF). Demographic and economic data were retrieved from the International Monetary Fund. STUDY SELECTION: All articles retrieved were included in the bibliometric analysis. DATA EXTRACTION: The search strategy was validated on a random sample of the articles retrieved. The search quality reflected the level of error of the PubMed database. DATA SYNTHESIS: Publications retrieved were 10,379 and have grown 8.6 times in 40 years, faster than the all-diseases rehabilitation field (7.8 times), with a particularly steep growth for cerebrovascular diseases in the last 15 years (5 times). However, in the last decade, the articles' quality (IF) decreased. From 1994 to 2008, 3466 citations were retrieved; 44.4% came from the European Union and 30.3% from the United States. The highest mean IF was reported for France (4.127). The United Kingdom and some relatively small northern European Union countries had the best ratio of IF (sum) to resident population or to gross domestic product. The most frequently used key word was stroke, and 3 journals (Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Clinical Rehabilitation, and Stroke) published one quarter of the articles. CONCLUSIONS: The overall scientific production in the field of CCD rehabilitation showed a steep growth in the last decade, especially because of cerebrovascular research. In the same period, a decrease in the overall IF was observed. The European Union and the United States contributed 3 of every 4 articles in the field, although some Asian countries showed promising performance.

CREST biorepository for translational studies on malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory tract diseases: Informatics infrastructure and standardized annotation.

Advances in molecular epidemiology and translational research have led to the need for biospecimen collection. The Cancer of the Respiratory Tract (CREST) biorepository is concerned with pleural malignant mesothelioma (MM) and lung cancer (LC). The biorepository staff has collected demographic and epidemiological data directly from consenting subjects using a structured questionnaire, in agreement with The Public Population Project in Genomics (P(3)G). Clinical and follow-up data were collected. Sample data were also recorded. The architecture is based on a database designed with Microsoft Access. Data standardization was carried out to conform with established conventions or procedures. As from January 31, 2011, the overall number of recruited subjects was 1,857 (454 LC, 245 MM, 130 other cancers and 1,028 controls). Due to its infrastructure, CREST was able to join international projects, sharing samples and/or data with other research groups in the field. The data management system allows CREST to be involved, through a minimum data set, in the national project for the construction of the Italian network of Oncologic BioBanks (RIBBO), and in the infrastructure of a pan-European biobank network (BBMRI). The CREST biorepository is a valuable tool for translational studies on respiratory tract diseases, because of its simple and efficient infrastructure.

Scientific production in cancer rehabilitation grows higher: a bibliometric analysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate scientific production in the field of cancer rehabilitation comparing publication trends and impact factor (IF) among countries. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched. Publications numbers and IF were evaluated both as absolute values and after standardization by population and gross domestic product (GDP). A dedicated software was developed to create a relational database containing all information about considered publications (Research Management System). RESULTS: Some 1,743 publications were retrieved from 1967 to 2008. Cancer rehabilitation publications have grown 11.6 times, while the whole field of disease rehabilitation has grown 7.8 times. Breast neoplasms, squamous cell carcinoma, treatment outcome, endosseous dental implantation, follow-up studies, and surgical flaps were the most commonly used keywords. From 1994 to 2008, 946 citations were retrieved: 36.8% came from the European Union (EU) (Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands ranking at the top) and 36.9% from the USA. The highest mean IF was reported for the USA (3.384) followed by Canada (3.265) and Australia (2.643). The EU has a mean IF of 0.839 with the Netherlands ranking first. Canada, Australia, and the USA had the best ratio between IF (sum) and resident population or GDP. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer rehabilitation is an expanding area with a growing scientific production. The rapidly ageing population, the higher number of cancer survivors, and the increasing need of resources for the after treatment of cancer patients contribute to explain the interest for this field.