Thematic development of research on patient safety: An analysis with the science mapping technique

A large amount of scientific literature is forcing those who want to study the subject deeply. In general, the number of articles available exceeds thousands. It has become challenging both to dominate the current concept and to see the relationships between the developments that feed the concept. Visualization techniques based on bibliometric data help to gain an overview of the literature on complex research topics. The aim of this study is to examine the topic of “patient safety” with a bibliometric analysis program. The data of 8372 articles obtained from the Web of Science database were analyzed with SciMAT2 software. Before the analysis, general findings regarding the raw data were brought to the fore. The strategic diagram and thematic development map have been analyzed in terms of 10-year periods covering the past 30 years. Five motor themes (“contrast agent,” “adverse events,” “program,” “safety,” “prostatectomy”) were identified in 1990-1999, four motor themes (“infection control,” “hospital-acquired infections,” “adverse drug events,” “culture”) in 2000-2009 and nine motor themes (“patient safety,” “education,” “climate,” “system,” “mortality,” “operating room,” “validity,” “burnout,” “primary care”) in 2010-2019. The number of motor themes increased during the period and adverse events, which were the active subjects of the early periods, were replaced by new concepts (such as climate, primary care, and burnout) over time. Bibliometric visualization tools make it possible to analyze the literature consisting of a large number of articles. This approach facilitates a person’’s understanding of a complex research topic such as patient safety and ensures that they are aware of new research directions or alternative research priorities.