A bibliometric analysis of atopic dermatitis research over the past three decades and future perspectives

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) has been increasing in prevalence over the past few decades; how-ever, AD has never been analyzed using a bibliometric approach. We searched for AD studies in the dermatology and allergy category of the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases using the keywords “atopic dermatitis”, “eczema”, and “atopy”. In total, 53,460 documents were retrieved. We analyzed annual publication trends and performed keyword and co‐authorship network analyses. The annual number of AD publications has increased over the years. Asthma, food allergies, the skin bar-rier, IgE, and epidemiology have received extensive attention. The keywords ‘allergic rhinitis’, ‘child(ren)’, ‘quality of life’, and ‘probiotics’ have become more commonly used in recent years. AD research has been led by only a few countries, such as the USA, Germany, and the UK, and longstanding research topics such as asthma, allergy, and the immune system continue to be im-portant. We suggest that global collaborations, research in developing countries, and research that is more holistic (thus exploring how genes, the immune system, the environment, and the microbi-ome together impact AD) are necessary.