Trends in research on fatigue in rheumatology: Bibliometric analysis

The aim of this study is to analyze the studies on fatigue symptoms in rheumatology using bibliometric methods and to determine current trends and focal points.

The dataset for this study was created from articles published between 1983 and 2024 accessed via the Web of Science database. The keyword index used for WoS was determined as (TI = ["fatigue"] ).

A total of 624 articles were included in the study. The highest publication productivity was seen in the United States with 186 publications. The journals "Journal of Rheumatology" and "Rheumatology" both ranked first in publication productivity with 68 articles each. The most commonly used keyword was "rheumatoid arthritis". The journal with the highest total citation amount and cumulative publication production was "Journal of Rheumatology". Trending topics were seen tofacitinib, patient-reported outcome measures, and psoritic arthritis. Authors with one publication on fatigue in rheumatic diseases constituted 79% of all authors, authors with two publications constituted 12%, and authors with three or more publications constituted 4%. The most globally cited study was Wolfe, F. et al. (1996). The most common collaborating author keyword was "Rheumatoid Arthritis".

The literature on fatigue in the field of rheumatology contains deficiencies in better understanding the pathophysiology of fatigue, its management and treatment. At the same time, in recent years, fatigue has moved away from parameters such as muscle strength, pain and disease activity and towards patient reported outcomes. The increase in studies determining the validity and reliability of fatigue questionnaires in rheumatic diseases is also striking.