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Review
. 2024 Mar 26:15:1370707.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1370707. eCollection 2024.

Emerging research themes in maternal hypothyroidism: a bibliometric exploration

Ailing Chen  1 , Zouqing Luo  2 , Jinqiu Zhang  3 , Xiaohui Cao  2
Affiliations
Review

Emerging research themes in maternal hypothyroidism: a bibliometric exploration

Ailing Chen et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: Hypothyroidism, a prevalent endocrine disorder, carries significant implications for maternal and infant health, especially in the context of maternal hypothyroidism. Despite a gradual surge in recent research, achieving a comprehensive understanding of the current state, focal points, and developmental trends in this field remains challenging. Clarifying these aspects and advancing research could notably enhance maternal-infant health outcomes. Therefore, this study employs bibliometric methods to systematically scrutinize maternal hypothyroidism research, serving as a reference for further investigations.

Objective: Through bibliometric analysis, this study seeks to unveil key research focus areas, developmental trends, and primary contributors in Maternal Hypothyroidism. The findings offer insights and recommendations to inform future research endeavors in this domain.

Methods: Literature metrics analysis was performed on data retrieved and extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The analysis examined the evolution and thematic trends of literature related to Maternal Hypothyroidism. Data were collected on October 28, 2023, and bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the Bibliometrix software package, considering specific characteristics such as publication year, country/region, institution, authorship, journals, references, and keywords.

Results: Retrieved from 1,078 journals, 4,184 articles were authored by 18,037 contributors in 4,580 institutions across 113 countries/regions on six continents. Maternal Hypothyroidism research publications surged from 44 to 310 annually, a 604.54% growth from 1991 to 2022. The USA (940 articles, 45,233 citations), China Medical University (82 articles, 2,176 citations), and Teng, Weiping (52 articles, 1,347 citations) emerged as the most productive country, institution, and author, respectively. "Thyroid" topped with 233 publications, followed by "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" (202) with the most citations (18,513). "Pregnancy" was the most cited keyword, with recent high-frequency keywords such as "outcome," "gestational diabetes," "iodine intake," "preterm birth," "guideline," and "diagnosis" signaling emerging themes in Maternal Hypothyroidism.

Conclusions: This study unveils developmental trends, global collaboration patterns, foundational knowledge, and emerging frontiers in Maternal Hypothyroidism. Over 30 years, research has predominantly focused on aspects like diagnosis, treatment guidelines, thyroid function during pregnancy, and postpartum outcomes, with a central emphasis on the correlation between maternal and fetal health.

Keywords: CiteSpace; VOSviewer; bibliometrics; emerging topics; maternal hypothyroidism; research focus; visualization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart - Maternal Hypothyroidism search process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The distribution of Maternal Hypothyroidism publications over time and collaboration networks among countries/regions/institutions related to the subject. (A) Distribution of Maternal Hypothyroidism publications over time. (B) Distribution and collaboration of publications among countries/regions. (C) Collaboration clusters among countries/regions. (D) Visualization map of institutional collaboration.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Collaboration networks among authors in Maternal Hypothyroidism. (A) Visualization map of author collaboration. (B) Co-citation analysis of cited authors.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Analysis of journal sources. (A) The distribution of journal sources according to Bradford’s Law. (B) Co-citation analysis of cited sources regarding Maternal Hypothyroidism. (C) Dual-Map overlay of journals publishing research on Maternal Hypothyroidism.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Top 10 highly cited references and co-cited references. (A) Top 10 most cited articles in Maternal Hypothyroidism research. (B) Co-citation network analysis of most cited references. (C) Cluster analysis of co-cited references.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Analysis of keywords associated with Maternal Hypothyroidism. (A) Clustering of key terms. (B) Burst detection of keywords.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Trend analysis and Timeline viewer of Maternal Hypothyroidism topics. (A) Trend topics analysis. (B) Timeline viewer related to Maternal Hypothyroidism.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Schematic diagram of the bibliometric analyses performed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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