Bibliometric Analysis of Medical Tourism Research: Trends, Focus Areas, and Opportunities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate relevant articles in the Web of Science database using bibliometric methods to examine the current research status and publication trends in the field of medical tourism. In pursuit of our aim, 10,272 studies related to medical tourism from the Web of Science (WoS) database were analyzed for bibliometric analysis. The VOSviewer program was used to analyze and visualize the collected data. The study results indicate that there has been a continuous increase in the number of studies and publications on medical tourism since the 1980s. Since the 2000s, there has been a significant increase in studies related to medical tourism. Various researchers from different disciplines are conducting these studies and they are addressing medical tourism not only from a clinical perspective but also from environmental, economic, and social standpoints. Publishers such as Elsevier and Springer Nature account for the majority of publications on medical tourism. While English is the predominant language in most studies, research in other languages is also evident. The USA, UK, and Australia have the highest publication rates, and the authors and publishers leading in this field have been identified on a map. This analysis uncovers the research trends, focal points, and notable figures within the medical tourism field.