Research on neglected tropical diseases in Haiti: a scientometrics analysis, 1923-2022

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze scientometric profile of publications on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Haiti, 1923-2022. We conducted a scientometric study based on indexed scientific productions related to NTDs in Haiti. The search syntax in the Scopus database was based on key terms for NTDs recognized by the World Health Organization in 2022, focusing on keywords, titles, and abstracts. VOSviewer 1.6.18 was used to create bibliographic networks according to authorship, country of origin, institution, and descriptors. A total of 281 publications were identified, 87.9% (247/281) original articles, with an increase of 45.1% (127/281, annual average of 12.7 publications) in the last decade (2013-2022) compared to the first half of the analyzed period (1923-1975, annual average of 0.21 publications). The authors with the highest number of publications were: Lammie PJ (n = 51), Eberhard ML (n = 29), and Wallace RM (n = 25). A total of 83 institutions participated in the research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (United States) had the highest proportion of affiliations in the coauthorship versus organizations analysis (n = 86), with authors from 35 countries. Coauthorship by country shows publications between institutions in the Americas (n = 13), Europe (n = 9), and Asia (n = 5). The analysis of cooccurrence versus author keywords shows higher occurrence of the terms “dengue” and “rabies”. There is a very limited number of publications on NTDs in Haiti throughout a century of publications, despite the relative increase in recent decades. Such publications are concentrated among foreign authors, with limited national coauthorship.