Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Medical Sociology: A Co-Word Analysis

BACKGROUND: Medical sociology is concerned with the relationship between social factors and health, and with the application of sociological theory and research techniques to questions related to health and the health care system. Considering the wide range of studies in the field that each examined different aspects, to promote health in community, bibliometrics analysis in this area is felt. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study with a scientometric approach, the data about “medical sociology” were retrieved from PubMed in MEDINE format, including 1226 records over the period 1945–2018. By using Co-word analysis, clustering methods, and strategic diagram with the help of SPSS, UcInet 6 software the data were analyzed. RESULTS: The keyword “Attitude to Health” and two pairs of frequently used keywords, namely “Power (Psychology)*Professional Autonomy” were the most frequent in medical sociology. The results shaped the concepts of medical sociology in 7 clusters. The clusters “Attitude of health personnel”, “Health Policy” and “Sociology of Medical Education” are topics that may be emerging or disappearing. The “Physicians”, “Models of Social Determinants of Health” and “medical philosophy” are immature clusters. CONCLUSION: This research used co-word networks that indicate the important links between keywords of research areas. Considering the frequency of keywords along with the clusters obtained, it seems that the most research approach was seen on the medical aspect rather than the sociological aspect. Despite the importance of sociological aspects such as social rooting of disease, sociability, medicine as a social institution and etiological studies, these subjects have not been sufficiently considered.