Alessandro Sgrò1, Ibrahim S Al-Busaidi2, Cameron I Wells3, Dominique Vervoort4, Sara Venturini5, Valeria Farina6, Federica Figà7, Francesc Azkarate8, Ewen M Harrison9, Francesco Pata10. 1. Faculty of Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 2. Department of Medicine, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. ibrahim.al-busaidi@cdhb.health.nz. 3. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 4. Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian, Foresterhill Health Campus, Foresterhill Road, Aberdeen, UK. 6. Città della Salute e della Scienza, Molinette, Turin, Italy. 7. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Precision Medicine, Università Degli Studi Della Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli', Naples, Italy. 8. Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 9. Department of Clinical Surgery, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH16 4SA, UK. 10. General Surgery Unit, Nicola Giannettasio Hospital, Corigliano-Rossano, Italy.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: There has been a growing interest in addressing the surgical disease burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Assessing the current state of global surgery research activity is an important step in identifying gaps in knowledge and directing research efforts towards important unaddressed issues. The aim of this bibliometric analysis was to identify trends in the publication of global surgical research over the last 30 years. METHODS: Scopus® was searched for global surgical publications (1987-2017). Results were hand-screened, and data were collected for included articles. Bibliometric data were extracted from Scopus® and Journal Citation Reports. Country-level economic and population data were obtained from the World Bank. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise data and identify significant trends. RESULTS: A total of 1623 articles were identified. The volume of scientific production on global surgery increased from 14 publications in 1987 to 149 in 2017. Similarly, the number of articles published open access increased from four in 1987 to 68 in 2017. Observational studies accounted for 88.7% of the included studies. The three most common specialties were obstetrics and gynaecology 260 (16.0%), general surgery 256 (15.8%), and paediatric surgery 196 (12.1%). Over two times as many authors were affiliated to an LMIC institution than to a high-income country (HIC) institution (6628, 71.5% vs 2481, 28.5%, P < 0.001). A total of 965 studies (59.5%) were conducted entirely by LMIC authors, and 534 (32.9%) by collaborations between HICs and LMICs. CONCLUSION: The quantity of research in global surgery has substantially increased over the past 30 years. Authors from LMICs seemed the most proactive in addressing the global surgical disease burden. Increasing the funding for interventional studies, and therefore the quality of evidence in surgery, has the potential for greater impact for patients in LMICs.
INTRODUCTION: There has been a growing interest in addressing the surgical disease burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Assessing the current state of global surgery research activity is an important step in identifying gaps in knowledge and directing research efforts towards important unaddressed issues. The aim of this bibliometric analysis was to identify trends in the publication of global surgical research over the last 30 years. METHODS: Scopus® was searched for global surgical publications (1987-2017). Results were hand-screened, and data were collected for included articles. Bibliometric data were extracted from Scopus® and Journal Citation Reports. Country-level economic and population data were obtained from the World Bank. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise data and identify significant trends. RESULTS: A total of 1623 articles were identified. The volume of scientific production on global surgery increased from 14 publications in 1987 to 149 in 2017. Similarly, the number of articles published open access increased from four in 1987 to 68 in 2017. Observational studies accounted for 88.7% of the included studies. The three most common specialties were obstetrics and gynaecology 260 (16.0%), general surgery 256 (15.8%), and paediatric surgery 196 (12.1%). Over two times as many authors were affiliated to an LMIC institution than to a high-income country (HIC) institution (6628, 71.5% vs 2481, 28.5%, P < 0.001). A total of 965 studies (59.5%) were conducted entirely by LMIC authors, and 534 (32.9%) by collaborations between HICs and LMICs. CONCLUSION: The quantity of research in global surgery has substantially increased over the past 30 years. Authors from LMICs seemed the most proactive in addressing the global surgical disease burden. Increasing the funding for interventional studies, and therefore the quality of evidence in surgery, has the potential for greater impact for patients in LMICs.
Entities:
Keywords:
Bibliometric analysis; Biomedical research; Global surgery; Surgical procedures
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