Application of Machine Learning and Emerging Health Technologies in the Uptake of HIV Testing: Bibliometric Analysis of Studies Published From 2000 to 2024.

Abstract

Background: The global targets for HIV testing for achieving the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets are still short. Identifying gaps and opportunities for HIV testing uptake is crucial in fast-tracking the second (initiate people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy) and third (viral suppression) UNAIDS goals. Machine learning and health technologies can precisely predict high-risk individuals and facilitate more effective and efficient HIV testing methods. Despite this advancement, there exists a research gap regarding the extent to which such technologies are integrated into HIV testing strategies worldwide.

Objective: The study aimed to examine the characteristics, citation patterns, and contents of published studies applying machine learning and emerging health technologies in HIV testing from 2000 to 2024.

Methods: This bibliometric analysis identified relevant studies using machine learning and emerging health technologies in HIV testing from the Web of Science database using synonymous keywords. The Bibliometrix R package was used to analyze the characteristics, citation patterns, and contents of 266 articles. The VOSviewer software was used to conduct network visualization. The analysis focused on the yearly growth rate, citation analysis, keywords, institutions, countries, authorship, and collaboration patterns. Key themes and topics were driven by the authors' most frequent keywords, which aided the content analysis.

Results: The analysis revealed a scientific annual growth rate of 15.68%, with an international coauthorship of 8.22% and an average citation count of 17.47 per document. The most relevant sources were from high-impact journals such as the Journal of Internet Medicine Research, JMIR mHealth and uHealth, JMIR Research Protocols, mHealth, AIDS Care-Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AI, and BMC Public Health, and PLOS One. The United States of America, China, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Australia produced the highest number of contributions. Collaboration analysis showed significant networks among universities in high-income countries, including the University of North Carolina, Emory University, the University of Michigan, San Diego State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The discrepancy highlights missed opportunities in strategic partnerships between high-income and low-income countries. The results further demonstrate that machine learning and health technologies enhance the effective and efficient implementation of innovative HIV testing methods, including HIV self-testing among priority populations.

Conclusions: This study identifies trends and hotspots of machine learning and health technology research in relation to HIV testing across various countries, institutions, journals, and authors. The trends are higher in high-income countries with a greater focus on technology applications for HIV self-testing among young people and priority populations. These insights will inform future researchers about the dynamics of research outputs and help them make scholarly decisions to address research gaps in this field.