Bibliometric analysis of health information research from 2016 to 2020 confirms interest in how the Internet is used

Abstract

Background

Health care is of great importance to individuals and those funding health care. The academic community is interested in how health care can be delivered and the role of health information.

Objectives-

This study uses bibliometrics to identify novel research subjects, highly cited literature, worldwide cooperation relationships, author distribution and cooperative network, journal distribution, and research hotspots in the field of health information.

Methods

Data were collected from the Web of Science database, and the 3525 items of literature retrieved were analysed with word frequency, social network, and cluster analysis methods.

Results

The findings indicate that the Internet, Health Information, Health Information Technology, Health Literacy, and Health Information Exchange are the top five health information research topics. There is a close relationship between the research themes of COVID-19, Mental Health, Public Health, and Health Information Seeking. The main co-operative network is centred around the United States and the United Kingdom. College students (health information), young people (health information), and privacy issues (concerning health information) are the recent areas of research.

Conclusions

This study can provide some insights for practitioners in libraries and health information institutions, for topic selection in health journals, and for international cooperation among educators.