A bibliometric mapping of research on antimicrobial resistance and mental health

Antimicrobial resistance and mental health are critical global health concerns, yet the intersection of these fields remains underexplored. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of research trends at the nexus of antimicrobial resistance and mental health.

Bibliometric study design.

Publications related to antimicrobial resistance and mental health from January 1, 2004 to March 13, 2025 were extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Bibliometric analysis and visualisation were performed using the R-Bibliometrix package (biblioshiny). We analysed publication patterns, citation metrics, and key research themes to identify leading topics, countries, institutions, authors, and journals contributing to this emerging area.

The analysis included 3449 documents from 1397 sources, authored by 22,900 researchers, with an annual growth rate of 2.35 % and an average of 41.7 citations per paper. Output increased steadily after 2017, reaching its peak in 2020-2021. PLOS One was the most featured journal (78 articles), and the University of California, San Francisco, led institutional output (173 articles). The United States showed the highest collaboration and publication volume. Thematic and keyword analyses revealed dominant attention to depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety, alongside a smaller but growing focus on antimicrobial resistance, particularly its links to the gut-brain axis, where terms such as antibiotic resistance appeared less frequently but formed emerging clusters in recent years.

This study identifies research hotspots and gaps in the relationship between antimicrobial resistance and mental health, highlighting the need for public health policies that integrate mental health into antimicrobial resistance strategies. Prioritising this integration and enhancing global surveillance and collaboration are essential to addressing these interconnected challenges effectively.