Capturing the trend of mHealth research using text mining

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Medical Research Trends

Background:

• Mobile technologies are increasingly prevalent, driving significant growth in mobile health (mHealth) research.
• Understanding mHealth research trends is crucial for identifying emerging areas and knowledge gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze trends in mHealth research by mining terms related to medical conditions, interventions, and study populations.
• To identify the relationships between these key components within the mHealth research landscape.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 5,600 journal articles published in Web of Science between 2008 and 2018.
• Application of text mining techniques to extract and review 39,292 terms from titles and abstracts.

Main Results:

• 48 medical conditions were identified, with mood disorders being the most frequent in mHealth research.
• Prominent interventions included cell phone, SMS, and Internet-based approaches. Females were the most studied population, across conditions like pregnancy and AIDS.
• Older adults were the least studied demographic in mHealth research.

Conclusions:

• The study identified knowledge gaps in mHealth research, highlighting areas for future investigation.
• Researchers should focus on under-explored populations and conditions to advance the field of mHealth.