Prof. Pauline Cho Named “Most Impactful Author” in Orthokeratology.
Prof. Pauline Cho of the School of Optometry of PolyU is recently named as the “Most Impactful Author” in a bibliometric analysis of the orthokeratology literature published in the UK Contact Lens & Anterior Eye Journal. The number of citations and the total number of publications of Prof. Cho’s work rank first among other orthokeratology scholars in the world.
PolyU is also named as “The Leading Institution” with the highest number of highly-cited papers in the field, followed by the University of New South Wales (Australia) and the University of Ohio (USA).
The analysis was based on the search in title and abstract using the Scopus database, with keywords including “orthokeratology”, “corneal refractive therapy” and “corneal reshaping”, from the first publication about orthokeratology in 1962 to November 2020. Among the 650 papers found, Prof. Pauline Cho is the first author of the top 2 orthokeratology-related papers ranked by the number of citations. Prof. Cho was named the “Most Impactful Author” in orthokeratology, as demonstrated by her highest total paper count (82) and the highest number of citations in the world. In addition, Dr Peggy Cheung, Postdoctoral Fellow of Prof. Cho’s team, ranks third in the world, in terms of the number of citations of her orthokeratology-related publications.
Orthokeratology was first reported in the 1960s, using flat-fitting conventional rigid gas permeable lenses for daytime wear. The flat-fitting lenses resulted in changes to corneal curvatures, leading to a temporary correction of myopia, but was soon abandoned due to unpredictable results and undesirable side-effects. However, the treatment was revived in the early 2000s (modern orthokeratology) with the introduction of specially designed orthokeratology lenses, improved lens material (allowing overnight wear), and sophisticated equipment (allowing accurate monitoring of changes of the corneal surface). In 2005, Prof. Pauline Cho and her team published the first longitudinal study on overnight orthokeratology, showing effective slowing of myopia progression. Since then, numerous publications have confirmed the myopia control effect and many practitioners have adopted this modality on a routine basis for myopia management.
Earlier in 2017, a bibliometric analysis of this field also reported Prof. Pauline Cho and PolyU as the ‘most impactful author’ and ‘the more prolific institution’, respectively. The 2020 publication is a testament to the prominent contribution by Prof. Cho and her research team in the field of orthokeratology.
References:
- Jason J. Nichols, Lyndon Jones, Philip B. Morgan, Nathan Efron, Bibliometric analysis of the orthokeratology literature, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.11.010
- Villa-Collar, César Ph.D.; Álvarez-Peregrina, Cristina Ph.D.; Hidalgo Santa Cruz, Fernando OD, Ph.D.; Povedano-Montero, Francisco Javier Ph.D. Bibliometric Study of Scientific Research on Overnight Orthokeratology, Eye & Contact Lens: Science & Clinical Practice: September 2018 - Volume 44 - Issue 5 - p 344-349 doi: 10.1097/ICL.0000000000000545
