Preprint / Version 1

Bibliometric trend analysis of non-conventional (alternative) therapies in veterinary research

Authors

  • Karolina Domingues aInstituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • Nuno Franco aInstituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • Isilda Rodrigues bDepartamento de Educação e Psicologia, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
  • George Stilwell dCentro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Manuel Magalhães-Sant’Ana dCentro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Keywords:

literature search, text mining, evidence-based medicine, complementary therapies, alternative therapies, acupuncture, phytotherapy, homeopathy, essential oils, veterinary medicine

Abstract

Background: There is an increased interest in Non-Conventional Therapies (NCTs), often referred to as complementary and alternative medicines, in veterinary clinical practice. Aim: To map the bibliometric outputs of NCTs in veterinary medicine, and identify which are most prevalent, and the extent to which their publishing has increased. Methods: Text mining algorithms were applied to detect 17 NCTs-related terms (acupuncture, ayurveda/ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional medicine, chiropractic, electroacupuncture, essential oil, plant extract, ethnopharmacology, herbal medicine, homeopathy, low-level laser therapy, medicinal plant, natural product, osteopathy, phytotherapy, and massage) in the title, abstract or keywords of all retrievable literature until 2020 under the PubMed MeSH term ‘veterinary’ (N = 377 556). Point prevalence, incidence by decade and cumulative incidence were calculated. Results: Bibliometric trend analysis revealed an overall increase in NCTs-related terms over the last 20 years, with a substantial growth of studies mentioning plant extracts, essential oils and medicinal plants. Traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine and natural product have also increased in the same period, although their numbers remain low. Conversely, reference to acupuncture has decreased in the last decade when compared with the previous decade, whereas references to homeopathy, electroacupuncture, osteopathy and chiropractic remained scarce, suggesting that their use in veterinary clinical practice may not be based on published evidence. Conclusion: Further reviews to explore this issue are warranted, differentiating secondary from primary literature, and assessing relevance and methodological quality of individual studies, following the principles of evidence-based veterinary medicine. Keywords: literature search, text mining, evidence-based medicine, complementary therapies, alternative therapies, acupuncture, phytotherapy, homeopathy, essential oils, veterinary medicine

Author Biographies

Isilda Rodrigues, bDepartamento de Educação e Psicologia, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

cCentro de Investigação e Intervenção Educativas, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

George Stilwell, dCentro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

eLaboratório Associado para Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Lisbon, Portugal

Manuel Magalhães-Sant’Ana, dCentro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

eLaboratório Associado para Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Lisbon, Portugal

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