Japan's contribution to research on infectious disease

Area of Science:

• Infectious Disease Research
• Bibliometrics
• Medical Research Trends

Background:

• Assessing Japan's global impact on infectious disease research is crucial.
• Understanding research output trends provides insights into national scientific contributions.
• Previous analyses have not comprehensively evaluated Japan's recent performance in this field.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify Japan's contribution to infectious disease research from 1991-2000.
• To analyze the types of studies (e.g., randomized controlled trials) published by Japanese institutions.
• To compare Japan's research output and study types with other developed nations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized MEDLINE database to identify articles published in leading infectious disease journals (1991-2000).
• Counted articles affiliated with Japanese institutions, calculating Japan's overall contribution percentage.
• Analyzed and compared the proportions of randomized controlled trials, case-control/cohort studies, and case reports for Japanese vs. global publications.

Main Results:

• Japan contributed 3.4% of total infectious disease research articles, ranking sixth globally.
• Japan's research contribution showed a non-significant negative trend over the decade (P=0.19).
• While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) increased globally (3.9%), Japan reported only one RCT (0.2%); case-control/cohort study proportion was also lower.

Conclusions:

• Japan's contribution to infectious disease research over the last decade was unsatisfactory compared to other developed countries.
• A significant disparity exists in the types of high-impact studies conducted, with a notable lack of RCTs from Japan.
• Urgent investigation into the reasons for this underperformance and implementation of remedial measures are recommended.