Global trends in technology-dependent children, home care, and parental discharge education: A bibliometric analysis using Biblioshiny.

Abstract

Background: Parents of technology-dependent children constitute a different population in society and face diverse problems during caregiving.

Methods: This study aimed to identify and visualize studies conducted from 1990 to 2024 on technology-dependent children, home care, and parental discharge education and determine global trends. A descriptive and bibliometric study design was employed. Data were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and bibliometric analyses were performed with performance analysis, visualization, and mapping using the Biblioshiny interface in the R software. Screening yielded a total of 157 publications. A total of 138 publications were included.

Findings: The keywords frequently used by the authors included "home care," "technology-dependent children," "palliative care," "home mechanical ventilation," "child," "family," and "pediatric." Co-author keywords with moderate centrality and density are "home mechanical ventilation" (Betw = 106.47), "technology-dependent" (Betw = 106.47), "home mechanical ventilation" (Betw = 106.47). Each article had 4.41 co-authorships, with an international co-authorship rate of 6.52 %.

Conclusions: This study provided important data on studies focusing on technology-dependent children, home care, and parental discharge education.

Application to practice: Since the number of studies in the field is small, the findings of this study are essential in guiding researchers about gaps in the literature.