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Review
. 2024 Feb 28;16(2):e55190.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.55190. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Mapping the Evolution of Clinical Trials on Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Bibliometric Overview (1965-2023)

Namrata Dagli  1 , Mainul Haque  1   2 , Santosh Kumar  3
Affiliations
Review

Mapping the Evolution of Clinical Trials on Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Bibliometric Overview (1965-2023)

Namrata Dagli et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current landscape in drug-resistant tuberculosis research. An extensive electronic search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus databases to identify clinical trials related to drug-resistant tuberculosis. Network analysis and visualization were performed on the data using the Biblioshiny App and VOSviewer software. This bibliometric study focuses on revealing publication trends, leading contributors, key institutions, thematic focuses, and citation patterns. The analysis of research paper publications reveals a consistent upward trajectory over the years, characterized by periodic declines and subsequent surges. Noteworthy peaks in 2013 and 2010 are observed in Scopus and PubMed, respectively, followed by marked declines, particularly notable between 2021 and 2023. PubMed and Scopus data indicate that the United States and South Africa are the leading contributors. According to the PubMed and Scopus databases, the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University are the institutions that contribute the most. Keyword and thematic analyses underscore the primary research focuses on drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), including drug combination therapy, microbiological analysis of sputum, therapeutic uses of antitubercular agents, drug resistance (DR), multidrug resistance (MDR), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The trend-topic analysis reveals dynamic shifts in research focus over time, transitioning from single-drug therapy to addressing drug resistance and highlighting the emerging need for effective drug therapy in cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Notably, most research papers on drug-resistant tuberculosis are single-country publications. Citation analysis in the Scopus database indicates that the average citation per year and mean total citation per year peaked during 2005-2006. This suggests a period of heightened impact and recognition within the research community during that timeframe. The study's findings may inform strategic planning for combating drug-resistant tuberculosis, ultimately contributing to future enhanced prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.

Keywords: bibliometric; citation analysis; clinical trials; drug-resistant; multidrug-resistant; mycobacterium; network analysis; network visualization; overlay visualization; tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart of the process of selection of studies in PubMed and Scopus databases.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 2
Figure 2. Annual scientific production of research papers on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 3
Figure 3. Overlay visualization of co-authorship analysis of authors based on PubMed data (Weight: Documents, Scores: Average Publications).
Note: The size of the nodes indicates the number of publications. Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 4
Figure 4. Overlay visualization of co-authorship analysis of authors based on Scopus data. (Weight: Documents, Scores: Average Publications).
Note: The size of the nodes indicates the number of publications. Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 5
Figure 5. Author’s productivity analysis through Lotka’s Law.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 6
Figure 6. Most contributing countries in research papers related to drug-resistant tuberculosis based on the PubMed database.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 7
Figure 7. Most contributing countries in research papers related to drug-resistant tuberculosis based on the Scopus database.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 8
Figure 8. Most relevant sources in research papers related to drug-resistant tuberculosis in the PubMed database.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 9
Figure 9. Most relevant Sources in Research papers related to drug-resistant tuberculosis in the Scopus database.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 10
Figure 10. Most relevant universities/institutions based on PubMed database.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 11
Figure 11. Most relevant universities/institutions based on Scopus.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 12
Figure 12. Word Cloud, a visual representation of the most frequently occurring words. The size of each word is proportional to its frequency in the text.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 13
Figure 13. Cluster density visualization of cooccurrence of MeSH keywords (Weight: occurrences).
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 14
Figure 14. Trend-topic analysis of research papers on drug-resistant tuberculosis. (Field- Keywords plus, Minimum frequency of words -7, maximum two terms per year).
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 15
Figure 15. Thematic map of research themes on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 16
Figure 16. Analysis of the most relevant countries and their collaboration frequency in publishing clinical trials on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 17
Figure 17. Country collaboration map.
Note: The degree of color represents the frequency of collaboration. Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 18
Figure 18. Most globally cited clinical trials on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
TC: total citations Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
Figure 19
Figure 19. Average citations per year in clinical trials on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Image Credit: Namrata Dagli
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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