Development and trend in the field of valvular heart disease in China: an analysis based on the National Natural Science Foundation of China

BACKGROUND: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) plays a vital role promoting advancement of science in China. The incidence and mortality rate of valvular heart disease (VHD) increase with aging population. Therefore, it is of significance to discuss the development and trend in the field of VHD and provide references for scholars to carry out further Foundations. METHODS: Internet-based Science Information System and other websites were used to search for projects supported by NSFC related to VHD in 2008–2019 and related information of applicants. Publications, citations and impact factors were queried by Google Scholar and InCites Journal Citation Reports 2.0 and analyzed by SPSS for Windows version 24.0. Key words extracted from these project titles were imported into Citespace for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 117 projects and related information were acquired. Although the annual amount of projects and funding has fluctuated in recent years, they still maintained an upward trend. Institutes were mainly distributed over Hubei Province, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province. Applicants characterized as senior title, male, cardiac surgeon have accounted for a larger proportion of projects, with a greater amount of funding. Through the analysis of keywords and subject distribution, molecular-biology-based mechanism study combined with tissue engineering has become the principal research hot spot and trend in recent years. Annual changes in output in scientific research were consistent with changes in the amount of funding. CONCLUSIONS: This paper collated funding situation supported by NSFC in VHD, analyzed distribution of keywords and summarized the research trend, so as to supply guidance to researchers for advanced researches.