Johan W.S. Vlaeyen

56.7k total citations · 13 hit papers
430 papers, 35.3k citations indexed

About

Johan W.S. Vlaeyen is a scholar working on Pharmacology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychiatry and Mental health. According to data from OpenAlex, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen has authored 430 papers receiving a total of 35.3k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 300 papers in Pharmacology, 207 papers in Cognitive Neuroscience and 136 papers in Psychiatry and Mental health. Recurrent topics in Johan W.S. Vlaeyen's work include Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation (300 papers), Pain Management and Placebo Effect (174 papers) and Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research (107 papers). Johan W.S. Vlaeyen is often cited by papers focused on Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation (300 papers), Pain Management and Placebo Effect (174 papers) and Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research (107 papers). Johan W.S. Vlaeyen collaborates with scholars based in Netherlands, Belgium and United Kingdom. Johan W.S. Vlaeyen's co-authors include Steven J. Linton, Geert Crombez, Madelon L. Peters, Mariëlle E. J. B. Goossens, Peter H. T. G. Heuts, Ank M. J. Kole-Snijders, Hugo van Eek, Jeffrey Roelofs, Ann Meulders and Stephen Morley and has published in prestigious journals such as The Lancet, Circulation and SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología.

In The Last Decade

Johan W.S. Vlaeyen

422 papers receiving 33.9k citations

Hit Papers

Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoske... 1995 2026 2005 2015 2000 1995 2006 1999 2018 1000 2.0k 3.0k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art
    2000 3.5k citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Steven J. Linton Pain profile →
  2. Fear of movement/(re)injury in chronic low back pain and its relation to behavioral performance
    1995 1.8k citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. Pain profile →
  3. The Fear-Avoidance Model of Musculoskeletal Pain: Current State of Scientific Evidence
    2006 1.6k citations Mariëlle E. J. B. Goossens, Steven J. Linton et al. Journal of Behavioral Medicine profile →
  4. Pain-related fear is more disabling than pain itself: evidence on the role of pain-related fear in chronic back pain disability
    1999 1.3k citations Geert Crombez, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. Pain profile →
  5. The IASP classification of chronic pain for ICD-11: chronic primary pain
    2018 810 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Qasim Aziz et al. Pain profile →
  6. Fear-avoidance model of chronic musculoskeletal pain: 12 years on
    2012 779 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Steven J. Linton Pain profile →
  7. Low back pain
    2021 742 citations Nebojša Nick Knežević, Kenneth D. Candido et al. The Lancet profile →
  8. Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain
    2012 697 citations Geert Crombez, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. profile →
  9. The role of fear of movement/(re)injury in pain disability
    1995 558 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. profile →
  10. Behavioural treatment for chronic low-back pain
    2010 430 citations Raymond Ostelo, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. profile →
  11. The fear-avoidance model of pain
    2016 427 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Geert Crombez et al. Pain profile →
  12. Low back pain
    2018 326 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Jan Van Zundert et al. profile →
  13. EULAR recommendations for the health professional's approach to pain management in inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis
    2018 256 citations Johan W.S. Vlaeyen et al. profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Johan W.S. Vlaeyen Netherlands 92 25.2k 11.4k 10.6k 5.0k 3.9k 430 35.3k
Dennis C. Turk United States 98 21.2k 0.8× 10.8k 0.9× 7.3k 0.7× 6.4k 1.3× 3.5k 0.9× 394 35.5k
Mark P. Jensen United States 96 18.7k 0.7× 8.8k 0.8× 8.0k 0.8× 6.6k 1.3× 5.3k 1.4× 685 39.3k
Francis J. Keefe United States 97 17.7k 0.7× 9.4k 0.8× 6.9k 0.7× 5.4k 1.1× 2.0k 0.5× 523 39.1k
Steven J. Linton Sweden 72 16.1k 0.6× 6.4k 0.6× 5.0k 0.5× 2.0k 0.4× 2.9k 0.7× 275 23.1k
Michael Von Korff United States 111 13.8k 0.5× 10.0k 0.9× 3.0k 0.3× 5.1k 1.0× 3.9k 1.0× 342 44.1k
Daniel J. Clauw United States 94 17.6k 0.7× 20.9k 1.8× 6.4k 0.6× 7.3k 1.5× 961 0.2× 519 35.5k
Geert Crombez Belgium 87 12.9k 0.5× 6.6k 0.6× 11.8k 1.1× 4.1k 0.8× 1.1k 0.3× 476 30.4k
Christopher Eccleston United Kingdom 90 14.2k 0.6× 6.3k 0.6× 7.9k 0.7× 5.1k 1.0× 827 0.2× 329 29.6k
Judith A. Turner United States 85 14.7k 0.6× 4.8k 0.4× 4.3k 0.4× 3.0k 0.6× 5.5k 1.4× 286 25.0k
Roger B. Fillingim United States 88 12.9k 0.5× 6.5k 0.6× 5.6k 0.5× 12.7k 2.5× 1.5k 0.4× 554 32.6k

Countries citing papers authored by Johan W.S. Vlaeyen

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Johan W.S. Vlaeyen's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Johan W.S. Vlaeyen with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Johan W.S. Vlaeyen more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Johan W.S. Vlaeyen

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Johan W.S. Vlaeyen. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Johan W.S. Vlaeyen. The network helps show where Johan W.S. Vlaeyen may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Johan W.S. Vlaeyen

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Johan W.S. Vlaeyen. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Johan W.S. Vlaeyen based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Johan W.S. Vlaeyen. Johan W.S. Vlaeyen is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Bartels, Sara Laureen, Ida Flink, Katja Boersma, et al.. (2025). Individual‐Level Effects of a Digital Behavioural Treatment for Chronic Pain: Proof‐of‐Concept of a Single‐Case Experimental Design Study. European Journal of Pain. 29(10). e70128–e70128.
2.
3.
Simons, Laura E., Lauren E. Harrison, Derek Boothroyd, et al.. (2023). A randomized controlled trial of graded exposure treatment (GET living) for adolescents with chronic pain. Pain. 165(1). 177–191. 8 indexed citations
4.
Ryckeghem, Dimitri Van, et al.. (2023). In search of conditioned pain: an experimental analysis. Pain. 164(11). 2596–2605. 1 indexed citations
5.
Biesiekierski, Jessica R., et al.. (2022). Review article: exclude or expose? The paradox of conceptually opposite treatments for irritable bowel syndrome. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 56(4). 592–605. 13 indexed citations
6.
Gholamrezaei, Ali, Ilse Van Diest, Qasim Aziz, et al.. (2021). Effect of slow, deep breathing on visceral pain perception and its underlying psychophysiological mechanisms. Neurogastroenterology & Motility. 34(4). e14242–e14242. 16 indexed citations
7.
Knežević, Nebojša Nick, Kenneth D. Candido, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Jan Van Zundert, & Steven P. Cohen. (2021). Low back pain. The Lancet. 398(10294). 78–92. 742 indexed citations breakdown →
8.
Walentynowicz, Marta, Sofie Coenen, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, et al.. (2020). Worries and concerns of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in Belgium – a validation of the Dutch rating form. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 55(12). 1427–1432. 5 indexed citations
9.
Meulders, Ann, Yannick Boddez, Fernando Blanco, Maaike Van Den Houte, & Johan W.S. Vlaeyen. (2018). Reduced selective learning in patients with fibromyalgia vs healthy controls. Pain. 159(7). 1268–1276. 16 indexed citations
10.
Vlaeyen, Johan W.S., Geert Crombez, & Steven J. Linton. (2016). The fear-avoidance model of pain. Pain. 157(8). 1588–1589. 427 indexed citations breakdown →
11.
Leonhardt, Corinna, Annette Becker, Heinz-Dieter Basler, et al.. (2016). Graded Exposure for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults: A Pilot Study. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy. 40(1). 51–59. 16 indexed citations
12.
Hollander, Marlies den, Mariëlle E. J. B. Goossens, Jeroen de Jong, et al.. (2016). Expose or protect? A randomized controlled trial of exposure in vivo vs pain-contingent treatment as usual in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type 1. Pain. 157(10). 2318–2329. 97 indexed citations
13.
Madden, Victoria J., Daniel S. Harvie, Romy Parker, et al.. (2015). Can Pain or Hyperalgesia Be a Classically Conditioned Response in Humans? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Pain Medicine. 17(6). 1094–1111. 45 indexed citations
14.
Vlaeyen, Johan W.S. & Steven J. Linton. (2012). Fear-avoidance model of chronic musculoskeletal pain: 12 years on. Pain. 153(6). 1144–1147. 779 indexed citations breakdown →
15.
Kindermans, Hanne, Jeffrey Roelofs, Mariëlle E. J. B. Goossens, et al.. (2011). Activity Patterns in Chronic Pain: Underlying Dimensions and Associations With Disability and Depressed Mood. Journal of Pain. 12(10). 1049–1058. 89 indexed citations
16.
Bol, Yvonne, Annelien Duits, Richel Lousberg, et al.. (2010). Fatigue and physical disability in patients with multiple sclerosis: a structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 33(5). 355–363. 45 indexed citations
17.
Pool, Jan, Raymond Ostelo, Kees van der Veer, et al.. (2008). The applicability of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia for patients with sub-acute neck pain: a qualitative study. Quality & Quantity. 43(5). 773–780. 21 indexed citations
18.
Ostelo, Raymond, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Piet A. van den Brandt, & Henrica C. W. de Vet. (2005). Residual complaints following lumbar disc surgery: prognostic indicators of outcome. Pain. 114(1). 177–185. 25 indexed citations
19.
Vlaeyen, Johan W.S. & Steven J. Linton. (2000). Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art. Pain. 85(3). 317–332. 3460 indexed citations breakdown →
20.
Vlaeyen, Johan W.S. & Geert Crombez. (1999). Fear of movement/(re)injury, avoidance and pain disability in chronic low back pain patients. Manual Therapy. 4(4). 187–195. 178 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

Explore authors with similar magnitude of impact

Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Dennis C. Turk Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Mark P. Jensen Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Francis J. Keefe Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Steven J. Linton Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Michael Von Korff Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Daniel J. Clauw Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Geert Crombez Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Christopher Eccleston Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Judith A. Turner Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Roger B. Fillingim
Rankless by CCL
2026