Social Support in Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Patients after Diagnosis: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

In terms of bibliometric analysis, there are no studies related to the impact of social support on breast cancer survivors' quality of life. Therefore, this study aims to provide a bibliometric assessment of results on social support in quality of life in breast cancer patients. The studies for the dataset were selected from Scopus published in the year 2001–2021 based on their relevancy to the established subjects. The VOSviewer software was used for bibliometric analysis to represent the performance of publications covering annual outputs, mainstream journals leading countries, institutions, research tendencies, and hotspots. The analysis of the findings indicated only 45 articles over the range of 2001-2021. The highest number of publications was published in 2021, and the lowest was in 2002-2004 and 2006. Social support strongly correlates with the psychological adjustment of adherence to cancer treatment. Only one study failed to find an association between social support and suicide after a cancer diagnosis. Meanwhile, China, the United States, and Hong Kong contributed to social support. Instrumental, financial, information, and emotional support were reported as domains needed to support breast cancer patients. This bibliometric analysis provides the results of thoughts and insights about the development needed by breast cancer patients to prolong survival.