Scientific Mapping of Global Research on Health Equity by 2023: A Bibliometric Study

There has been a growing focus on health equity (HE) within health systems. Studies in HE have revealed significant domains that have been the focus of attention for academics and research institutions. This research aimed to provide an in-depth perspective on the research efforts conducted around the world concerning HE.

In this bibliometric study, we used co-word analysis to map HE studies indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed by the end of 2023. A comprehensive search was carried out in the databases, and the data were analyzed employing VOSviewer software. Along with analyzing publication trends, thematic clusters, and emerging topics in HE were identified.

The compound annual growth rate of the HE documents in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science were 0.157, 0.173, 0.453, and 0.317, respectively. Topic clusters of HE keywords in the period preceding the COVID-19 pandemic were "Health care," "Health economics," "Race and ethnicity," "Social determinants of health," and "Age and gender." The analyses related to the time following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the identification of six topic clusters, namely "Health workforce," "Risk factors," "Maternal and child health," "COVID-19," "Cancer," and "Mental health." Moreover, "Artificial intelligence," "Racial disparity," "Machine learning," and "COVID-19," were four key emerging topics of HE pertinent to the post-COVID-19 period.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in research focused on HE. The focus of research in HE has shifted to an emphasis on various diseases and their risk factors. Emerging topics identified in this study represent significant areas of interest as novel research domains, particularly within low- and middle-income countries.