Current status and trends of urinary incontinence research in recent 10 years based on VOSviewer visualized analysis: An observational study

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) is prevalent and imposes significant social and economic burdens. This study reviews the literature on UI, assesses the current research status, and projects future trends. To visualize and analyze UI-related research, summarize and generalize the knowledge framework of the global UI field, and explore the current state of research and emerging trends, we conducted a comprehensive search of UI-related studies from 2014 to 2024 using the Web of Science Core Collection. Utilizing VOSviewer software, we mapped the scientific landscape and performed visual analytics on collaborative and co-citation networks, keyword co-occurrences, emergent clusters, and timeline mapping to elucidate the research dynamics. A total of 4326 publications were retrieved for further analysis. The United States ranked first in terms of the total number of publications, number of citations, and publication H-index. In terms of institutions, the University of California System had the most total citations and the highest H-index. Neurology and Urodynamics had the most articles published, the highest citation frequency, and the highest H-index. The author with the most citations and the highest average number of citations per article is Abrams P. The author with the highest H-index is Peyronnet B. Based on the keyword analysis, the articles were categorized into several main directions: epidemiological studies, diagnostic studies, treatment studies, female UI studies, and male UI studies. Epidemiology, treatment, and male UI are expected to continue as hot topics. This study demonstrates that UI research is more advanced in Europe and North America and that Neurourology and Urodynamics is the most influential journal in the field. In addition, epidemiology, treatment, and male UI will continue to be prominent topics. Our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the current state of UI research and provides insights into future research directions in the field.