[A Comparison of Hospice Care Research Topics between Korea and Other Countries Using Text Network Analysis]

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Palliative Care
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Hospice care research trends require comparative analysis to inform future studies.
• Understanding national and international research focuses can identify gaps and opportunities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and compare hospice care research topics in Korean and international nursing studies.
• To utilize text network analysis for a comprehensive comparison of research themes.

Main Methods:

• Collected and analyzed abstracts from 347 Korean and 1,926 international nursing studies (1998-2016).
• Extracted keywords, developed co-occurrence matrices, and constructed text networks.
• Analyzed network measures (degree, closeness, betweenness centrality, clustering) using NetMiner software.

Main Results:

• Common core keywords included 'hospice,' 'patient,' 'death,' 'RNs,' 'care,' and 'family.'
• Korean studies highlighted 'cancer,' while international studies emphasized 'palliative care.'
• Recent keywords (2011-2016) revealed distinct themes: 'attitude,' 'spirituality' (Korea) vs. 'communication,' 'treatment' (international).

Conclusions:

• Korean nursing research should expand focus beyond cancer patients to include non-cancer conditions, children, and families.
• Future research should prioritize communication, pain, and symptom management to enhance hospice care quality in Korea.