An overview of research trends and genetic polymorphisms for noise-induced hearing loss from 2009 to 2018

Recently, there has been increased studies in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). We aimed to make an overview of research trends and genetic polymorphisms for NIHL from 2009 to 2018 with VOSviewer software. A total of 2391 papers were identified for research trends analysis in NIHL and 33 studies identified for a brief review of genetic polymorphisms in human NIHL. The number of publications has been increasing over the past decade. The journal Hearing Research published the most articles (218). The USA contributed the largest number of papers (1042; 43.58%), with the most citations (18,987) and the highest H-index (60). The University of Washington was the most contributive institution. Liberman MC published the most articles (32), and Kujawa SG possessed the highest co-citations (584). Except for high-frequency keywords identified by the software, “prevalence,” “oxidative stress,” “hair cells,” and “cochlear implant” were also the latest research frontiers. HSPA1A rs1043618, HSPA1L rs2227956, PON2 rs12026 and rs7785846, SOD2 rs2855116, KCNE1 rs2070358, KCNQ4 rs34287852, GJB2 rs3751385, PCDH15 rs7095441 and rs11004085, GRHL2 rs1981361, ITGA8 rs10508489, MYH14 rs667907, and POU4F3 rs891969 were the research hotspots and were replicated in independent samples. Inflammation response underlying NIHL has emerged and should be considered as a pioneering field in the future for the prevention of NIHL and conservation of hearing.