Bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on waterpipe (narghile, shisha, hookah) tobacco smoking during the period 2003-2012

Abstract

BackgroundWaterpipe tobacco smoking has spread worldwide. However, the evaluation of scientific output in the field of waterpipe tobacco smoking has not been studied yet. The main objectives of this study were to analyze worldwide research output in the waterpipe tobacco smoking field, and to examine the authorship pattern and the citations retrieved from the Scopus database for over a decade.MethodsData from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2012 were searched for documents with specific words regarding waterpipe tobacco smoking as “keywords” in the title. Scientific output was evaluated based on a methodology developed and used in other bibliometric studies: (a) total and trends of contributions in waterpipe tobacco smoking research between 2003 and 2012; (b) authorship patterns and research productivity; (c) collaboration patterns; (d) the citations received by the publications; and (e) areas of interest of the published papers.ResultsWorldwide there were 334 publications that met the criteria during the study period. The largest number of publications in waterpipe tobacco smoking were from the United States of America (USA) (33.5%), followed by Lebanon (15.3%), and France (10.5%). The total number of citations at the time of data analysis (October 18, 2013) was 4,352, with an average of 13 citations per document and a median (interquartile range) of 4.0 (1.0–16.0). The h-index of the retrieved documents was 34. The highest h-index by country was 27 for the USA, followed by 20 for Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon.ConclusionsThe present data reveal a promising rise and a good start for research activity in the field of waterpipe tobacco smoking. More effort is needed to bridge the gap in waterpipe smoking-based research and to promote better evaluation of waterpipe smoking, risks, health effects, or control services worldwide.

Worldwide research productivity in the field of electronic cigarette: a bibliometric analysis

“…This study is not without limitations, most of which are the same as those of bibliometric studies performed in other biomedical fields [23,24,29-31]. First of all, in the current study, we used Scopus criteria for including EC-related keywords.…”

Waterpipe smoking among secondary school students in Hong Kong

“…Of the few studies on adolescents, most, if not all, have been based on Western (e.g., Canada, the US and UK) or Middle East populations (Akl et al 2015;Zyoud et al 2014). Cigarette smoking is the most important predictor of waterpipe use among adolescents (Barnett et al 2009;Jawad et al 2015a, b;Minaker et al 2015;Palamar et al 2014;Smith et al 2011;Weglicki et al 2008).…”

Factors Influencing Hookah Smoking in High School Students

“…It is believed that the country of origin is India, where during the reign of Emperor Akbar, doctor Hakim Abdul Fatih invented smoking nargile as a less harmful way of using tobacco (2). There is also data that hookah originated in South Africa, Persia and Ethiopia (3), and that it is a common practice in Turkey, India, Pakistan and China (4). Nargile consumption is part of traditional heritage in most rural areas (5), gaining popularity among young people, especially in urban areas (6).…”