Global Mapping of Research Trends on Interventions to Improve Health-Related Quality of Life in Asthma Patients

Abstract

Globally, approximately 335 million people are being affected by asthma. Given that asthma is a chronic airway condition that cannot be cured, the disease negatively impacts physical health and results in losses of productivity of people experiencing asthma, leading to decrease in quality of life. This study aims at demonstrating the research trends worldwide and identifying the research gaps in interventions for improving quality of life of patients with asthma. Bibliometric approach and content analysis, which can objectively evaluate the productivity and research landscapes in this field, were utilized. In this study, we systematically quantified the development of research landscapes associated with interventions for improving quality of life of people experiencing asthma. Along with the gradual growth in the number of publications, these research topics have relatively expanded in recent years. While the understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of asthma has been well-established, recent research has showed high interest in the control and management of asthma. Findings of this study suggest the need for more empirical studies in developing countries and further investigation into the effects of environment factors on asthma outcomes, as well as the economic burden of asthma.

Keywords: HRQoL; asthma; content analysis; interventions; quality of life; scientometrics; text mining.

Figure 1

Selection of papers.

Figure 2

Co-occurrence of most frequent terms in titles and abstracts. Note: the colors of the nodes indicate principle components of the data structure; the node size was scaled to the keywords’ occurrences. Abbreviations: (red cluster) fvc—forced vital capacity, fev1—forced expiratory volume in one second, pef—peak expiratory flow, pefr—peak expiratory flow rate, ahr—airway hyperresponsiveness, ics—inhaled corticosteroids, mf dpi—mometasone furoate dry powder inhaler; (yellow cluster) qol—quality of life, aqlq—Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, aqlq s—Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Standardized), paqlq—Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, pedsql—Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, lwaq—Living with Asthma Questionnaire; (green cluster) mcs—multiple chemical sensitivity.

Figure 3

Changes in research topics development.

Figure 4

Dendrogram of coincidence of research areas using the Web of Science (WoS) lassifications.