Procalcitonin in general internal medicine: a bibliometric analysis

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics
• Medical Informatics
• General Internal Medicine

Background:

• Procalcitonin (PCT) is crucial for bacterial infection identification and treatment guidance.
• Existing PCT literature is primarily categorized under critical care or infectious diseases.
• The research landscape of PCT within General Internal Medicine (GIM) remains largely undefined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the current status of PCT-related research within the GIM field.
• To identify key trends, contributors, and publication patterns.
• To provide insights for future research directions in GIM.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the term "PCT" within the "Medicine, General & Internal" scope.
• Data was retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) database in Web of Science Core Collection.
• CiteSpace software was employed to analyze publication trends, citations, geographical distribution, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords.

Main Results:

• A total of 905 PCT-related documents were identified, with significant contributions from Europe, the US, and China.
• Research output shows limited inter-institutional and international collaboration.
• Current research emphasizes the standardized application of PCT, with key findings often published in critical care journals.

Conclusions:

• There is a notable scarcity of targeted research on PCT applications specifically within GIM.
• Significant PCT literature relevant to GIM originates from other medical specialties.
• Increased GIM-specific research on procalcitonin is recommended for future endeavors.