Bibliometric Analysis of Publication Hot Topics of Smartphones in the Field of Health and Medical Services

Abstract

Background: Smartphones have captured the attention of many researchers in the field of health and medical services. This study aimed to quantify research ‘hotspots’ in this field, analyse the relationship between research hotspots and the resulting knowledge groups, and provide visual representations of the findings. Methods: Using bibliometric analysis software tools for keyword frequency analysis, we identified research hotspots using keywords from PubMed entries from a 14-year period. The analyses of hotspots were performed using keyword co-occurrence analysis, social network analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), multidimensional scaling analysis, and network visualization technology. Results: The results confirmed that the number of articles has been increasing each year. The topics of mobile applications, telemedicine, self-care, Diabetes Mellitus, treatment outcomes, health promotion, and patient satisfaction associated with smartphones were highlighted. The 35 high-frequency keywords that were extracted constituted five principal components of research related to information technology and telemedicine, diabetes, t-health promotion, and smartphones/handheld computers. Figures of knowledge network maps and perceptual maps show the relationship between the high-frequency keywords. Conclusions: The research of smartphones for health and medical services has experienced significant growth and expansion in knowledge in the last 14 years. Research hotspots for smartphone-related information technology, telemedicine, and health promotion have broad prospects for development. Moreover, this study provides directions for research hotspots and future research in the field of smartphone applications for health and medical services.