Visualizing the knowledge domains and research trends of childhood asthma: A scientometric analysis with CiteSpace

BACKGROUND: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in children globally. In recent decades, advances have been made in understanding the mechanism, diagnosis, treatment and management for childhood asthma, but few studies have explored its knowledge structure and future interests comprehensively. OBJECTIVE: This scientometric study aims to understand the research status and emerging trends of childhood asthma. METHODS: CiteSpace (version 5.8.R3) was used to demonstrate national and institutional collaborations in childhood asthma, analyze research subjects and journal distribution, review research keywords and their clusters, as well as detect research bursts. RESULTS: A total of 14,340 publications related to childhood asthma were extracted from Web of Science (core database) during January 2011 to December 2021. The results showed that academic activities of childhood asthma had increased steadily in the last decade. Most of the research was conducted by developed countries while China, as a developing country, was also actively engaged in this field. In addition to subjects of allergy and immunology, both public health aspects and ecological environmental impacts on the disease were emphasized recently in this research field. Keywords clustering analysis indicated that research on asthma management and atopy was constantly updated and became the two major research focuses recently, as a significant shift in research hotspots from etiology and diagnosis to atopic march and asthma management was identified. Subgroup analysis for childhood asthma management and atopy suggested that caregiver- or physician-based education and interventions were emerging directions for asthma management, and that asthma should be carefully studied in the context of atopy, together with other allergic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented a comprehensive and systematic overview of the research status of childhood asthma, provided clues to future research directions, and highlighted two significant research trends of asthma management and atopy in this field.