Bibliometric analysis of global publications in medication adherence (1900-2017).

OBJECTIVES: Medication non-adherence is a worldwide problem. The aim of this study was to assess the global research output, research trends and topics that shaped medication adherence research. METHODS: A bibliometric methodology was applied. Keywords related to 'medication adherence' were searched in Scopus database for all times up to 31 December 2017. Retrieved data were analyzsd, and bibliometric indicators and maps were presented. KEY FINDINGS: In total, 16 133 documents were retrieved. Most frequently encountered author keywords, other than adherence/compliance, were HIV, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, depression, osteoporosis, asthma and quality of life. The number of documents published from 2008 to 2017 represented 62.0% (n = 10 005) of the total retrieved documents. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 223. The USA ranked first (43.1%; n = 6959), followed by the UK (8.6%; n = 1384) and Canada (4.5%; n = 796). The USA dominated the lists of active authors and institutions. Top active journals in publishing research on medication adherence were mainly in the field of AIDS. Top-cited articles in the field focused on adherence to anti-HIV medications, the impact of depression on medication adherence and barriers to adherence. CONCLUSION: Adherence among HIV patients dominated the field of medication adherence. Research on medication adherence needs to be strengthened in all countries and in different types of chronic diseases. Research collaboration should also be encouraged to increase research activity on medication adherence in developing countries.

Bibliometric Analysis of Worldwide Publications on Antimalarial Drug Resistance (2006-2015).

BACKGROUND: In response to international efforts to control and eradicate malaria, we designed this study to give a bibliometric overview of research productivity in antimalarial drug resistance (AMDR). METHODS: Keywords related to AMDR were used to retrieve relevant literature using Scopus database. RESULTS: A total of 976 publications with an h-index of 63 were retrieved. The number of publications showed a noticeable increase starting in the early 1990s. The USA was the most productive country with 337 publications equivalent to one-third of worldwide publications in this field. More than two-thirds of publications by the USA (236, 70.03%) were made by international collaboration. Of the top ten productive countries, two countries were from Mekong subregion, particularly Thailand and Cambodia. The Malaria Journal was the most productive journal (136, 13.93%) in this field. Mahidol University (80, 8.20%) in Thailand was the most productive institution. Seven articles in the top-ten list were about artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, one was about chloroquine resistance, one was about sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance, and the remaining one was about general multidrug resistance. CONCLUSION: Eradication and control of AMDR require continuing research activity to help international health organizations identify spots that require an immediate action to implement appropriate measures.

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide scientific literature in mobile - health: 2006-2016.

BACKGROUND: The advancement of mobile technology had positively influenced healthcare services. An emerging subfield of mobile technology is mobile health (m-Health) in which mobile applications are used for health purposes. The aim of this study was to analyze and assess literature published in the field of m-Health. METHODS: SciVerse Scopus was used to retrieve literature in m-Health. The study period was set from 2006 to 2016. ArcGIS 10.1 was used to present geographical distribution of publications while VOSviewer was used for data visualization. Growth of publications, citation analysis, and research productivity were presented using standard bibliometric indicators. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 5465 documents were published, giving an average of 496.8 documents per year. The h-index of retrieved documents was 81. Core keywords used in literature pertaining to m-Health included diabetes mellitus, adherence, and obesity among others. Relative growth rate and doubling time of retrieved literature were stable from 2009 to 2015 indicating exponential growth of literature in this field. A total of 4638 (84.9%) documents were multi-authored with a mean collaboration index of 4.1 authors per article. The United States of America ranked first in productivity with 1926 (35.2%) published documents. India ranked sixth with 183 (3.3%) documents while China ranked seventh with 155(2.8%) documents. VA Medical Center was the most prolific organization/institution while Journal of Medical Internet Research was the preferred journal for publications in the field of m-Health. Top cited articles in the field of m-Health included the use of mobile technology in improving adherence in HIV patients, weight loss, and improving glycemic control in diabetic patients. CONCLUSION: The size of literature in m-Health showed a noticeable increase in the past decade. Given the large volume of citations received in this field, it is expected that applications of m-Health will be seen into various health aspects and health services. Research in m-Health needs to be encouraged, particularly in the fight against AIDS, poor medication adherence, glycemic control in Africa and other low income world regions where technology can improve health services and decrease disease burden.

Bibliometric analysis of publications on Campylobacter: (2000-2015).

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter species are widespread zoonotic pathogens. Campylobacter jejuni causes a form of gastroenteritis called campylobacteriosis. Campylobacter drug resistance is considered a serious threat. In order to better understand national and international research output on Campylobacter, we conducted this bibliometric overview of publications on Campylobacter. This study can be used to assess extent of interaction and response of researchers, food regulators, and health policy makers to global burden of campylobacateriosis. METHODS: Scopus database was used to retrieve publications with the following keywords (Campylobacter/campylobacteriosis, C. jejuni, C. coli). The study period was set from 2000 to 2015. All types of journal documents, excluding errata, were considered. Bibliometric indicators such as annual growth of publications, country contribution, international collaboration, and citation analysis were presented. The quality of retrieved data was indirectly assessed by Hirsch index and impact factor of journals. RESULTS: A total of 5522 documents were retrieved with median (Q1-Q3) citations of 9 (2-23) and h-index of 113. Annual number of publications showed a fluctuating increase. The core leading journals were Applied and Environmental Microbiology journal and Journal of Food Protection with 246 (4.46%) publications for each. The USA (1309; 23.6%) was the most productive country while Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (150; 2.7%) was the most productive institution. Half of the top ten productive countries were European. France had the lowest percentage (33.5%) of articles with international collaboration while Netherlands (57.7%) had the highest percentage of articles with international collaboration. Approximately half (50.1%) of retrieved articles were published in journals under the subject area of "immunology/microbiology". Main themes in highly cited articles were molecular biology/genetics and public health burden of campylobacteriosis. There were 728 (13.1%) articles on campylobacter-related drug resistance, and the top cited articles focused mainly on increasing resistance to quinolones and fluoroquinolones. CONCLUSIONS: There was a clear increase in number of publications on Campylobacter. Rational use of antimicrobials in humans, poultry, and animals is highly recommended. International collaboration is highly required particularly in implementing new diagnostic screening technologies to minimize global health burden of Campylobacter and ensure food safety.

Bibliometric analysis of medicine-related publications on poverty (2005-2015).

BACKGROUND: Poverty is a global problem. The war against poverty requires not only financial support, but also poverty-related research to pinpoint areas of high need of intervention. In line with international efforts to fight poverty and negative consequences, we carried out this study to give a bibliometric overview of medicine-related literature on poverty. Such a s study is an indicator of the extent of interaction of various international key players on the war against poverty-related health problems. METHODS: Scopus was used to achieve the objective of this study. The time span set for this study was 2005-2015. Poverty-related articles under the subject area "Medicine" were used to give bibliometric indicators such as annual growth of publications, international collaboration, highly cited articles, active countries, institutions, journals, and authors. RESULTS: The total number of retrieved articles was 1583. The Hirsh-index of retrieved articles was 56. A modest and fluctuating increase was seen over the study period. Visualization map of retrieved articles showed that "HIV", infectious diseases, mental health, India, and Africa were most commonly encountered terms. No significant dominance of any particular author or journal was observed in retrieved articles. The United States of America had the largest share in the number of published articles. The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Prevention and Control were among top active institutions/organizations. International collaboration was observed in less than one third of publications. Top cited articles focused on three poverty-related health issues, mainly, infectious diseases, malnutrition, and child development/psychology. Most of top articles were published in high impact journals. CONCLUSIONS: Data indicated that articles on poverty were published in high influential medical journals indicative of the importance of poverty as a global health problem. However, the number publications and the extent of international collaborations was lower than expected given the huge burden of poverty-related health problems.

Bibliometric analysis of global scientific research on carbapenem resistance (1986-2015).

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health challenge and carbapenem resistance, in particular, is considered an urgent global health threat. This study was carried out to give a bibliometric overview of literature on carbapenem resistance. In specific, number of publications, top productive countries and institutes, highly cited articles, citation analysis, co-authorships, international collaboration, top active authors, and journals publishing articles on carbapenem resistance were analyzed and discussed. METHODS: Specific keywords pertaining to carbapenem resistance were used in Scopus database. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of retrieved data were presented using appropriate bibliometric indicators and visualization maps. RESULTS: A total of 2617 journal articles were retrieved. The average number of citations per article was of 21.47. The growth of publications showed a dramatic increase from 2008 to 2015. Approximately 9 % of retrieved articles on carbapenem resistance were published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal. Retrieved articles were published by 102 different countries. The United States of America (USA) contributed most with 437 (16.70 %) articles followed by China with 257 (9.82 %) articles. When productivity was stratified by population size, Greece ranked first followed by France. Greece also ranked first when data were stratified by gross domestic product (GDP). Asian countries have lesser international collaboration compared with other countries in the top ten list. Five of top ten productive institutes were Europeans (France, the UK, Greece, Italy, and Switzerland) and two were Asians (China and South Korea). Other active institutes included an Israeli and a Brazilian institute. Four of the top ten cited articles were published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal and two were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. CONCLUSION: There was a dramatic increase in number of publications on carbapenem resistance in the past few years. These publications were produced from different world regions including Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. International collaboration needs to be encouraged particularly for researchers in Asia. Molecular biology and epidemiology dominated the theme of the top ten cited articles on carbapenem resistance. This bibliometric study will hopefully help health policy makers in planning future research and allocating funds pertaining to carbapenem resistance.

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide publications on multi-, extensively, and totally drug - resistant tuberculosis (2006-2015).

BACKGROUND: The year 2015 marked the end of United Nations Millennium Development Goals which was aimed at halting and reversing worldwide tuberculosis (TB). The emergence of drug resistance is a major challenge for worldwide TB control. The aim of this study was to give a bibliometric overview of publications on multi-, extensively, and totally drug-resistant TB. METHODS: Scopus database was used to retrieve articles on multidrug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and totally drug-resistant (TDR) tuberculosis for the study period (2006-2015). The number of publications, top productive countries and institutions, citation analysis, co-authorships, international collaboration, active authors, and active journals were retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 2260 journal articles were retrieved. The mean ± SD citations per article was 7.04 ± 16.0. The h-index of retrieved data was 76. The number of publications showed a three - fold increase over the study period compared with less than two - fold increase in tuberculosis research during the same study period. Stratified by number of publications, the United States of America ranked first while Switzerland ranked first in productivity per 100 million people, and South Africa ranked first in productivity stratified per one trillion Gross Domestic Product. Three of the High Burden Countries (HBC) MDR-TB (India, China, and South Africa) were present in top productive countries. High percentage of international collaboration was seen among most HBC MDR-TB. Except for Plos One journal, most active journals in publishing articles on MDR, XDR, TDR-TB were in infection - related fields and in general medicine. Top 20 cited articles were published in prestigious journal such as Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine. The themes in top 20 cited articles were diverse, ranging from molecular biology, diagnostic tools, co-infection with HIV, and results of new anti-TB drugs. CONCLUSION: Publications on MDR, XDR and TDR - TB are increasing in the past decade. International collaboration was common. Many low resourced African and Asian countries will benefit from research leading to new diagnostic and screening technology of TB. The exchange of expertise, ideas and technology is of paramount importance in this field.

Assessment of research productivity of Arab countries in the field of infectious diseases using Web of Science database.

BACKGROUND: To meet the future challenges of infectious diseases and limit the spread of multidrug resistant microorganisms, a better understanding of published studies in the field of infectious diseases is needed. The objective of this study was to analyze the quantity and quality of research activity in the field of infectious diseases in Arab countries and compare it with that in non-Arab countries. METHODS: Documents published in Arab countries within the research category of "infectious diseases" were extracted and analyzed using the Web of Science database. The data analyzed represent research productivity during the time interval between 1900 - 2012. RESULTS: Worldwide, the total number of documents published in the field of infectious diseases up to 2012 was 227,188. A total of 2,408 documents in the field of infectious diseases were published in Arab countries, which represents 1.06% of worldwide research output. Research output from Arab countries in the field of infectious diseases was low for decades. However, approximately a five-fold increase was observed in the past decade. Arab countries ranked 56(th) to 218(th) on the standard competition ranking (SCR) in worldwide publications in the field of infectious diseases. Egypt, with a total publication of 464 (19.27%) documents ranked first among Arab countries, while Kuwait University was the most productive institution with a total of 158 (6.56%) documents. Average citation per document published in Arab countries was 13.25 and the h-index was 64. Tuberculosis (230; 9.55%), malaria (223; 9.26%), and hepatitis (189; 7.8%) were the top three infectious diseases studied as according to the retrieved documents. CONCLUSION: The present data reveals that some Arab countries contribute significantly to the field of infectious diseases. However, Arab countries need to work harder to bridge the gap in this field. Compared with non-Arab countries in the Middle East, research output from Arab countries was high, but more efforts are needed to enhance the quality of this output. Future research in the field should be encouraged and correctly directed.