Atrial Fibrillation in the Arab World: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Activity from 2004 to 2019

Authors

  • Dany Akiki Lebanese University – Faculty of Medical Sciences –Department of Internal Medicine – Hadath – Lebanon. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8365-5958
  • Said El Hage Lebanese University – Faculty of Medical Sciences –Department of Internal Medicine – Neuroscience Research Center – Hadath – Lebanon.
  • Elias Wakim Lebanese University – Faculty of Medical Sciences –Department of Internal Medicine – Hadath – Lebanon.
  • Steven Safi Lebanese University – Faculty of Medical Sciences –Department of Internal Medicine – Hadath – Lebanon
  • Elise Assouad Lebanese American University – School of Arts and Science – Department of Medicine – Byblos – Lebanon.
  • Pascale Salameh Lebanese University – Faculty of Medical Sciences –Department of Internal Medicine / Faculty of Pharmacy – Department of Basic Science– Hadath – Lebanon/ University of Nicosia – Medical School – Department of Primary Care and Population Health – Nicosia – Cyprus / Institut National de Santé Publique – Epidémiologie Clinique et Toxicologie – Sector of Public Health and Epidemiology – Beirut – Lebanon.

Keywords:

Atrial fibrillation, Bibliometrics, Middle East, Cardiology

Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is in an increasing pattern worldwide, especially in the Arab world. Objective: The aim of this article is to assess AF research activity in the Arab countries over the past 16 years, taking into consideration the population size, gross domestic product (GDP) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY). Methods: Atrial fibrillation related research articles published from Arab countries between 2004 and 2019 were collected from the MEDLINE database and are cited online on PubMed. Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms related to the subject, the origin and the date of publication were used to search for the published articles. Results: The number of AF related publications in the Arab world over the past 16 years was only 283 (0.73%) out of a total of 38,983 publications worldwide. Saudi Arabia ranked first in terms of number of AF related publications, followed by Egypt. Lebanon is the country with the highest number of publications per USD billion GDP, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia have the highest number of publications per 1% DALYs. According to the population size, Qatar and Bahrain produced the highest number of publications per million persons (PPMP). A strong and positive correlation was found between the number of publications and the GDP. The population size and the percentage of DALY showed positive yet weak correlation. Conclusion: A slight increase in AF related publications is observed. Nonetheless, AF research activity in the Arab world is still insufficient.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Khachfe, H. H., & Refaat, M. M. (2019). Bibliometric analysis of Cardiovascular Disease Research Activity in the Arab World. International Cardiovascular Forum Journal, 15(0). https://doi.org/10.17987/icfj.v15i0.554

Chugh, S. S., Havmoeller, R., Narayanan, K., Singh, D., Rienstra, M., Benjamin, E. J., Gillum, R. F., Kim, Y. H., McAnulty, J. H., Jr, Zheng, Z. J., Forouzanfar, M. H., Naghavi, M., Mensah, G. A., Ezzati, M., & Murray, C. J. (2014). Worldwide epidemiology of atrial fibrillation: a Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study. Circulation, 129(8), 837–847. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.005119

Dilaveris, P. E., & Kennedy, H. L. (2017). Silent atrial fibrillation: epidemiology, diagnosis, and clinical impact. Clinical cardiology, 40(6), 413–418. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.22667 Dilaveris PE, Kennedy HL. Silent atrial fibrillation: epidemiology, diagnosis, and clinical impact. ClinCardiol. 2017 Jun;40(6):413-418. doi: 10.1002/clc.22667. Epub 2017 Mar 8. Review. PubMed PMID: 28273368; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6490532.161.

Rahman, F., Kwan, G. F., & Benjamin, E. J. (2014). Global epidemiology of atrial fibrillation. Nature reviews. Cardiology, 11(11), 639–654. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2014.118

Zulkifly, H., Lip, G., & Lane, D. A. (2018). Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation. International journal of clinical practice, 72(3), e13070. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13070

Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017) Results. Seattle, United States: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2018. Available from http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.

Al-Shamkhani, W., Ayetey, H., & Lip, G. (2018). Atrial fibrillation in the Middle East: unmapped, underdiagnosed, undertreated. Expert review of cardiovascular therapy, 16(5), 341–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779072.2018.1457953

Blair, I., Grivna, M., & Sharif, A. A. (2014). The "Arab World" is Not a Useful Concept When Addressing Challenges to Public Health, Public Health Education, and Research in the Middle East. Frontiers in public health, 2, 30. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00030

Osareh, F. (1996). Bibliometrics, citation analysis and co-citation analysis: A review of literature I. Libri, 46(3), 149–158. https://doi.org/10.1515/libr.1996.46.3.149

Masic, I., &Milinovic, K. (2012). On-line biomedical databases-the best source for quick search of the scientific information in the biomedicine. ActaInformaticaMedica, Vol. 20, pp. 72–84. https://doi.org/10.5455/aim.2012.20.72-84.

Baumann, N. (2016). How to use the medical subject headings (Me SH ). International Journal of Clinical Practice, 70(2), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12767

Shaban, S. F., & Abu-Zidan, F. M. (2003). A quantitative analysis of medical publications from Arab countries. Saudi medical journal, 24(3), 294–296.

GDP (current US$) | Data. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2020, fromhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.

World Population Prospects 2019 - Population Division - United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2020, from https://population.un.org/wpp/.

E. Cheng, L. Cao, Establishing the “gross domestic product of welfare”: a major revision of GDP for a better accounting system, World Rev. Polit. Econ. 5 (2014) 439.

Benamer, H. T., & Bakoush, O. (2009). Arab nations lagging behind other Middle Eastern countries in biomedical research: a comparative study. BMC medical research methodology, 9, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-9-26

El Rassi, R., Meho, L. I., Nahlawi, A., Salameh, J. S., Bazarbachi, A., & Akl, E. A. (2018). Medical research productivity in the Arab countries: 2007-2016 bibliometric analysis. Journal of global health, 8(2), 020411. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.08.020411

Moustafa K. (2018). Promoting an academic culture in the Arab world. Avicenna journal of medicine, 8(3), 120–123. https://doi.org/10.4103/ajm.AJM_166_17

Lebanon Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2020, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/lebanon/overview

Wyndham C. R. (2000). Atrial fibrillation: the most common arrhythmia. Texas Heart Institute journal, 27(3), 257–267.

Conen D. (2018). Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation. European heart journal, 39 (16), 1323–1324. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy171

Prystowsky E. N. (2008). The history of atrial fibrillation: the last 100 years. Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology, 19(6), 575–582. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-8167.2008.01184.x

Barbarossa, A., Guerra, F., & Capucci, A. (2014). Silent Atrial Fibrillation: A Critical Review. Journal of atrial fibrillation, 7(3), 1138. https://doi.org/10.4022/jafib.1138

Habibzadeh Farrokh. (2008). Atrial fibrillation in the Middle East. The Lancet, (May 2012), 2008.

Sharara, E., Akik, C., Ghattas, H., & Makhlouf Obermeyer, C. (2018). Physical inactivity, gender and culture in Arab countries: a systematic assessment of the literature. BMC public health, 18(1), 639. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5472-z

Nielsen, J. R., Wachtell, K., & Abdulla, J. (2013). The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of atrial fibrillation, 5(5), 789. https://doi.org/10.4022/jafib.789

Sabzwari, S., Garg, L., Lakkireddy, D., & Day, J. (2018). Ten Lifestyle Modification Approaches to Treat Atrial Fibrillation. Cureus, 10(5), e2682. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.2682

Middeldorp, M. E., Ariyaratnam, J., Lau, D., & Sanders, P. (2020). Lifestyle modifications for treatment of atrial fibrillation. Heart (British Cardiac Society), 106(5), 325–332. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315327

Downloads

Published

22-02-2021

How to Cite

Akiki, D., El Hage, S. ., Wakim, E. ., Safi, S. ., Assouad, E. ., & Salameh, P. . (2021). Atrial Fibrillation in the Arab World: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Activity from 2004 to 2019. JOURNAL OF CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIAS, 34(1), 12–22. Retrieved from https://jca.org.br/jca/article/view/3430

Issue

Section

Clinical Arrythmia

Categories