Scientific Research on First Aid in Russian Federation: a Bibliometric Analysis of Publications over the Past 20 years

Abstract

Summary. The objectives of the study are to perform a bibliometric analysis of scientific works of Russian authors on the organization of provision, delivery and training in first aid (FP), published in Russian over the past 20 years. Material and research methods. In September 2023, a search was made in the electronic library eLIBRARY.RU for publications of the type “journal articles” under the heading 76.00.00 “Medicine and Healthcare” containing the term “first aid” in the title, abstract or keywords (search query: ” first* help*”) and published in January 2003 – August 2023. In the process of screening the search results, Russian-language publications were selected that touched on the topic of PP, the first authors of which were affiliated with Russian institutions. The following were excluded: duplicates; publications not related to first aid; historical and journalistic materials; publications on veterinary medicine; works without specifying the affiliation of the authors; normative legal acts; articles in all languages except Russian. To save bibliographic records and create a catalog of publications, the bibliographic information management program Zotero (Corporation for Digital Scholarship, USA; version 6.0.26) was used. Research results and their analysis. The search identified 1459 bibliographic records. During the screening, 608 publications were excluded. Thus, the sample for analysis included 851 publications. During the study, a clear trend towards an increase in the annual number of publications on PP was revealed – linear regression: R2=0.898, p<0.001. A statistically significant increase in the annual number of publications by Russian authors in Russian devoted to first aid issues was noted. In the last five years, this figure ranged from 66 to 105 publications per year, compared with one to 26 publications per year during the first ten years of the period studied (2003–2012). The increase in the annual number of published works indicates a gradual increase in the interest of Russian authors in the topic of first aid.