A bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 research in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Introduction: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, there is scarce literature addressing the research strategies developed in LAC to face COVID-19. Objective: To quantify and assess the production of scientific publications about COVID-19 in 32 countries of LAC between January 1 and July 31,2020. Materials and methods: Bibliometric study. Scientific papers on COVID-19 conducted in LAC or reporting data pertaining to LAC and published between January 1 to July 31, 2020 were searched in the Scopus, PubMed and LILACS databases. A subgroup analysis including only original research articles was performed to determine the contribution of LAC countries to research in COVID-19, and standardization measures (# of articles per 1 million people) were applied to compare the country-specific production of this type of articles. Results: A total of 1291 publications were retrieved. Overall, most of them were non-original research articles (81.72%), and the countries with the highest scientific production were Brazil (43.91%) and Mexico (9.14%). However, after applying the standardization measures, Chile was the country with the highest production of original articles (0.58 per 1 million inhabitants). Regarding original studies (n=236), cross-sectional design was the most common (25.84%). Diagnosis and treatment of the disease was the main research focus (n=354; 27.42%). In the subgroup analysis (n=236), however, epidemiology and surveillance were the most prevalent research focus (n=57; 24.15%). Conclusions: During the study period, non-original research articles were predominant in the scientific production of the LAC region, and, among original articles, interventional studies were scarce, while cross-sectional predominated. Further research with a better quality of evidence should be performed in these countries to contribute to the making of health policies aimed at easing the burden of COVID-19 in the region and to be prepared for other pandemics to come.

Substance Use in Healthcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin America: A Systematic Review and a Call for Reports

“… 32 Also, national and international investments in technological innovation has not prioritised substance abuse research in Latin America, even though millions of dollars have been invested in the development of rapid response projects. 4 , 33 , 34 As long as health stakeholders, political leaders and clinical practice managers do not highlight substance abuse as part of the scientific priorities in every Latin American country, HCWs will be threatened by substance use without control and prevention measures.…”

What is the perception of medical students about eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic? A multicenter study in Peru

“…In addition, several recent reviews have not reported the impact, effectiveness, and limitations of eLearning in Latin American countries [27,[30][31][32][33]. More studies are needed to understand the effect of COVID-19 on medical education in Latin America (particularly in Peru) since investments and scientific response policies have not prioritized educational aspects during the lockdown [34,35].…”

Synergistic networks of COVID-19’s top papers

“…Gupta et al (2021) claimed that the USA, UK, Italy and China published the most articles on COVID-19 in children and adolescents. Espinosa et al (2021) concluded that Chile had published the most original articles in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Brazil and Mexico have also published the most non-original articles in Latin America.…”

“…, Dehghanbanadak et al (2020), Sachini et al (2021), Sa'ed (2021), Chiu et al (2004), Sa'ed (2016), Surulinathi et al (2020), Laksham et al (2020), Danesh and Ghavidel (2020), Sahoo and Pandey (2020),Wang and Hong (2020),Zhai (2020),Okhovati and Arshadi (2021),Oh and Kim (2020),Gupta et al (2021),Espinosa et al (2021) andCallon et al (1986).…”