Scientific Production Dynamics in mHealth for Diabetes: Scientometric Analysis

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Medical Informatics
• Chronic Disease Management

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) significantly aids chronic disease management, particularly for diabetes.
• mHealth offers a cost-effective solution overcoming geographical and temporal barriers in diabetes care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map the scientific landscape of mHealth for diabetes research.
• To identify leading authors, countries, institutions, journals, and impactful publications.

Main Methods:

• A scientometric analysis was performed on 1574 articles published between 1998 and 2021.
• Data was sourced from the Science Citation Index Expanded database.
• Key metrics included publication output, citations, and author/institutional productivity.

Main Results:

• The United States emerged as the most productive country, with top institutions also based there.
• Research involved 7922 authors from 90 countries, published across 491 journals.
• Highly cited and impactful articles were predominantly published between 2009 and 2017.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive overview of mHealth for diabetes research productivity.
• Identifies opportunities for R&D, collaboration, specialization, and workforce development.
• Findings support policy planning, resource allocation, and strategic decision-making for advancing diabetes science.