Purpose: To systematically summarize the 100 most-mentioned and most-cited articles from the past decade to analyze research trends in diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the implications on patient education. Methods: The Altmetric Explorer and Web of Science databases were searched for articles on DR published from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2023. The 100 most-mentioned and most-cited articles were screened from each database, and the publication year, journal, first author’s sex, country of origin, total citations, Altmetric Attention score, research topic, and research type were recorded. Article metrics between the 100 most-mentioned and most-cited articles were compared. Results: The 100 most-mentioned articles had a median Altmetric Attention score of 161 and a median citation count of 49. The 100 most-cited articles had a median Altmetric Attention score of 35.5 and a median citation count of 312. JAMA Ophthalmology and Ophthalmology published the highest proportion of most-mentioned and most-cited articles. A strong positive correlation was found between the Altmetric Attention score and citation count for both the most-mentioned (r = 0.420, P < .001) and most-cited articles (r = 0.599, P < .001). The most common research subtopics of the most-mentioned and most-cited articles were epidemiology (42%) and screening (40%). Thirty articles were featured on both lists. Conclusions: The altmetric and bibliometric patterns seen in this study provide insight into the current and future trends in DR research and can be used to inform education outreach initiatives and improve patient outcomes.
TeoZLThamYCYuM, et al. Global prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and projection of burden through 2045: systematic review and meta-analysis. Ophthalmology. 2021;128(11):1580-1591. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.04.027
2.
LundeenEABurke-ConteZReinDB, et al. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the US in 2021. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2023;141(8):747-754. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.2289
3.
WangZZhangNLinPXingYYangN.Recent advances in the treatment and delivery system of diabetic retinopathy. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024;15:1347864. doi:10.3389/fendo.2024.1347864
4.
SinghRPElmanMJSinghSKFungAEStoilovI.Advances in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. J Diabetes Complications. 2019;33(12):107417. doi:10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2019.107417
5.
LimJIRegilloCDSaddaSR, et al. Artificial intelligence detection of diabetic retinopathy. Ophthalmol Sci. 2022;3(1):100228. doi:10.1016/j.xops.2022.100228
6.
RajeshAEDavidsonOQLeeCSLeeAY.Artificial intelligence and diabetic retinopathy: AI framework, prospective studies, head-to-head validation, and cost-effectiveness. Diabetes Care. 2023;46(10):1728-1739. doi:10.2337/dci23-0032
7.
BellemoVLimZWLimG, et al. Artificial intelligence using deep learning to screen for referable and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy in Africa: a clinical validation study. Lancet Digit Health. 2019;1(1):e35-e44. doi:10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30004-4
8.
TanTEWongTY.Diabetic retinopathy: looking forward to 2030. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023;13:1077669. doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.1077669
9.
LiHJiaWVujosevicS, et al. Current research and future strategies for the management of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy. Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila). 2024;13(5):100109. doi:10.1016/j.apjo.2024.100109
10.
ShahARGardnerTW.Diabetic retinopathy: research to clinical practice. Clin Diabetes Endocrinol. 2017;3(1):9. doi:10.1186/s40842-017-0047-y
11.
NwanyanwuKMJHNunez-SmithMGardnerTWDesaiMM. Awareness of diabetic retinopathy: insight from the national health and nutrition examination survey. Am J Prev Med. 2021;61(6):900-909. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.05.018
12.
LianJMcGheeSMGangwaniRALamCLKYapMKHWongDSH. Awareness of diabetic retinopathy and its association with attendance for systematic screening at the public primary care setting: a cross-sectional study in Hong Kong. BMJ Open. 2018;8(4):e019989. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019989
13.
CetinENZencirMFenkçiSAkınFYıldırımC.Assessment of awareness of diabetic retinopathy and utilization of eye care services among Turkish diabetic patients. Prim Care Diabetes. 2013;7(4):297-302. doi:10.1016/j.pcd.2013.04.002
14.
HuangLZhangZYaoTGaoXDanYHeY.The 100 top-cited articles in macular edema from 1950 to 2020. Semin Ophthalmol. 2022;37(2):203-207. doi:10.1080/08820538.2021.1954204
15.
HuangLYangWYaoT, et al. The 100 top-cited articles in uveitis from 1950 to 2022. Int Ophthalmol. 2023;43(12):4631-4638. doi:10.1007/s10792-023-02863-3
16.
AsahiMGPakhchanianHDoepkerCRaikerRGallemoreRP.A bibliometric analysis of the top 100 cited papers in retinal detachment. J Vitreoretin Dis. 2021;5(6):467-478. doi:10.1177/24741264211007378
17.
ZhangZYangWLvHHuangLYaoTHeY.The top 100 most cited manuscripts in retinopathy of prematurity: a bibliometric analysis. Semin Ophthalmol. 2023;38(3):306-311. doi:10.1080/08820538.2023.2177115
18.
SenerHPolatOA.Altmetric analysis of the most-cited 100 articles on the retina published between 2010 and 2020. Retina. 2022;42(2):283-289. doi:10.1097/IAE.0000000000003318
19.
EverekliogluCSenerHMutluSNGunay SenerABHorozogluF.Top 50 most-cited articles on SMILE surgery between 2010 and 2022: a correlation comparison between conventional bibliometrics and current altmetrics of research impact. Int Ophthalmol. 2023;43(7):2521-2532. doi:10.1007/s10792-023-02652-y
20.
ElmoreSA.The altmetric attention score: what does it mean and why should I care?Toxicol Pathol. 2018;46(3):252-255. doi:10.1177/0192623318758294
21.
BulutECelebiARCDokurMDayiO.Analysis of trending topics in glaucoma articles from an altmetric perspective. Int Ophthalmol. 2021;41(6):2125-2137. doi:10.1007/s10792-021-01770-9
22.
AliAAChauhanMZDotyMBuiTPhillipsPHSallamAB.Ophthalmology faculty diversity trends in the US. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2023;141(11):1021-1028. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.4476
23.
DotanGQureshiHMGatonDD.Chairs of United States academic ophthalmology departments: a descriptive analysis and trends. Am J Ophthalmol. 2018;196:26-33. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2018.08.016
24.
CohenSATsengVLSridharJColemanAL.A new era of ophthalmology leadership? A descriptive and comparative analysis of ophthalmology department chairs in 2024. Am J Ophthalmol. 2025;269:373-380. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2024.09.020
25.
AraujoACVaninAANascimentoDPGonzalezGZCostaLOP. What are the variables associated with altmetric scores?Syst Rev. 2021;10(1):193. doi:10.1186/s13643-021-01735-0
26.
WileyZCBoydCJAnanthasekarSBhatNHarish BindiganavileSLeeAG.Examining the relationship between altmetric score and traditional bibliometrics in the ophthalmology literature for 2013 and 2016 cohorts. J Acad Ophthalmol (2017). 2021;13(1):e89-e95. doi:10.1055/s-0041-1728658
27.
DjulbegovicMKalahastyKWataneAJaboriSKAl-KhersanHSridharJ.Correlation between altmetric attention scores and citations for articles published in high-impact factor ophthalmology journals from 2018 to 2019. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2022;140(6):623-627. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2022.0858
28.
CohenSACohenLETijerinaJD.The impact of monthly campaigns and other high-profile media coverage on public interest in 13 malignancies: a Google Trends analysis. Ecancermedicalscience. 2020;14:1154. doi:10.3332/ecancer.2020.1154
29.
TijerinaJDMorrisonSDNolanITParhamMJRichardsonMTNazeraliR.Celebrity influence affecting public interest in plastic surgery procedures: google trends analysis. Aesth Plast Surg. 2019;43(6):1669-1680. doi:10.1007/s00266-019-01466-7
30.
CohenSAZhuangTXiaoMMichaudJBAmanatullahDFKamalRN.Google trends analysis shows increasing public interest in platelet-rich plasma injections for hip and knee osteoarthritis. J Arthroplasty. 2021;36(10):3616-3622. doi:10.1016/j.arth.2021.05.040
31.
ZhangXNorrisSLSaadineJ, et al. Effectiveness of interventions to promote screening for diabetic retinopathy. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(4):318-335. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2007.05.002
32.
EvansDGRBarwellJEcclesDM, et al. The Angelina Jolie effect: how high celebrity profile can have a major impact on provision of cancer related services. Breast Cancer Res. 2014;16(5):442. doi:10.1186/s13058-014-0442-6
33.
MueckeTBacchiSCassonRJChanW.Does Twitter improve the dissemination of ophthalmology scientific publications?Int Ophthalmol. 2023;43(12):4487-4489. doi:10.1007/s10792-023-02849-1
34.
TsuiERaoRC.Navigating social media in #ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2019;126(6):779-782. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2019.02.015
SewalkKCTuliGHswenYBrownsteinJSHawkinsJB.Using Twitter to examine web-based patient experience sentiments in the United States: longitudinal study. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(10):e10043. doi:10.2196/10043
37.
PershadYHanggePTAlbadawiHOkluR.Social medicine: Twitter in healthcare. J Clin Med. 2018;7(6):E121. doi:10.3390/jcm7060121
38.
YeungAWKKletecka-PulkerMEibensteinerF, et al. Implications of Twitter in health-related research: a landscape analysis of the scientific literature. Front Public Health. 2021;9:654481. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.654481
39.
AhmedAMirzaKMLoghaviS.Elevating Twitter-based journal club discussions by leveraging a voice-based platform: #HemepathJC meets clubhouse. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2021;16(5):418-421. doi:10.1007/s11899-021-00644-2
40.
CohenSAPershingS.#Ophthalmology: social media utilization and impact in ophthalmology journals, professional societies, and eye health organizations. Clin Ophthalmol. 2022;16:2989-3001. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S378795
WongTYSabanayagamC.Strategies to tackle the global burden of diabetic retinopathy: from epidemiology to artificial intelligence. Ophthalmologica. 2020;243(1):9-20. doi:10.1159/000502387
43.
NguyenHVTanGSTappRJ, et al. Cost-effectiveness of a national telemedicine diabetic retinopathy screening program in Singapore. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(12):2571-2580. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.08.021
44.
GulshanVRajanRPWidnerK, et al. Performance of a deep-learning algorithm vs manual grading for detecting diabetic retinopathy in India. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019;137(9):987-993. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2019.2004
45.
NatarajanSJainAKrishnanRRogyeASivaprasadS.Diagnostic accuracy of community-based diabetic retinopathy screening with an offline artificial intelligence system on a smartphone. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019;137(10):1182-1188. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2019.2923
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
