IDF21-0334 Bibliometric analysis on telehealth for people with diabetic foot based on Web of Science
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated dramatic changes in the healthcare delivery to diabetic foot people requiring technologic solutions. Aim: To analyze the current status and trends of scientific publications on telehealth for people with diabetic foot in Web of Science (WoS). Method: A bibliometric-type methodology was used. Data were obtained from the WoS Core Collection in July 2021. Publication were identified using relevant search terms (“diabetic”, “tele*”, “Foot ulcer*”). There was no limitation of language considering that study seeks to present a global historical panorama. VOSviewer Software was used to analyze standard bibliometric data on the number of publications, journals, authors, countries, institutions, collaborations and keywords. Results: A total of 65 documents were retrieved from 2003 to 2020. The number of publications on the subject showed a steadily increase from 2003 to 2020, with a sudden peak in 2020 which reached 14 accounting for 21,5% of the total. The top 3 most active journals and authors and the most cited ones are shown in Table 1. The three countries that published the most were the United States of America (15), followed by Denmark (9) and Norway (7). The countries with the most citations were the United States of America (168), Denmark (135) and Netherlands (130). The top 3 most cited institutions were University of Amsterdam (130), Ziekenhuis Groep Twente (110) and Stavanger University Hospital (96). We identified 5 clusters connected by the authors Armstrong D.G, Van Netten J.J and Bus S. The four most frequently used keywords were “telemedicine” (29), care (13), “diabetic foot” (12) and “telehealth” (11).Tabled 1VariablesNJournals that published the mostJournal of Telemedicine and Telecare4Diabetes Technology & TherapeuticsDiabetes care44Most cited JournalsJournal of Telemedicine and Telecare69Diabetes Technology Therapeutics63Diabetes Care57Authors who published the mostIversen, MM7Bus, SA6Graue, M6Most cited authorsBus, SA130Van Netten, JJ113Iversen, MM96 Open table in a new tab Discussion: The findings from this bibliometric study showed that telehealth technologies are an emerging area in clinical research publications as a strategy for the continuity of care for diabetic foot people. Since 2003, an increasing number of publications were identified on WoS, mainly in 2020, possibly related to the need for new approaches and healthcare delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.