Background: Although headache is one of the most common neurologic conditions with a high disease burden, primary data on headache research from Southeast Asia (SEA) was hypothesized to be inadequate. This study aimed to evaluate research productivity among the different countries in SEA and to determine the association between specific bibliometric indices and socioeconomic factors.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted until June 10, 2020 in Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Index Medicus for South-East Asia Region to include all primary headache studies on migraine, tension-type headache, and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia, with at least one author affiliated with a SEA country. Bibliometric indices, such as the number of publications and PlumX metrics, were obtained and correlated with the country-specific socioeconomic factors.
Results: We identified 153 articles. Most of the publications (n = 43, 28.1%) were epidemiologic studies and case reports/series (n = 25, 16.3%). Migraine was the most studied primary headache subtype. Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand were the major contributors to primary headache research in SEA. Only the percent gross domestic product for research and development correlated significantly with research productivity.
Conclusion: Despite the high global burden of disease, research productivity on primary headache was low in SEA. The move towards a knowledge-based economy may drive research productivity in SEA.
Keywords: Bibliometric indices; Headache; Research productivity; Southeast Asia.