World-wide research architecture of vitamin D research: density-equalizing mapping studies and socio-economic analysis
Nutrition Journal 201817:3, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-018-0313-6
Dörthe Brüggmann, Annahita Alafi, Jenny Jaque, Doris Klingelhöfer, Michael H. Bendels, Daniela Ohlendorf, David Quarcoo, Frank Louwen, Sue A. Ingles, Eileen M. Wanke† and David A. Groneberg†. †Contributed equally
Analysis of Vitamin D papers published thru 2014
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Studies published per country
Studies published per population
Keyword used >17 times
Background
Despite the numerous associations of vitamin D with health and disease, vitamin D deficiency is still common from a global perspective. While basic research, clinical and preventive activities grow constantly in vitamin D research, there is no in-depth analysis of the related global scientific productivity available so far.
Methods: Density equalizing mapping procedures (DEMP) were combined with socioeconomic benchmarks using the NewQIS platform.
Results
A total of 25,992 vitamin D-related research articles were identified between 1900 to 2014 with a significant increase (r2 = .6541) from 1900 to 2014. Authors located in Northern America – especially in the USA – distributed the majority of global vitamin D research, followed by their Western European counterparts. DEMP-analysis illustrates that Africa and South America exhibit only minor scientific productivity. Among high-income group countries, Scandinavian nations such as Denmark or Finland (2147.9 and 1607.7 vitamin D articles per GDP in 1000 billion USD) were highly active with regard to socioeconomic figures.
Conclusion
Networks dedicated to vitamin D research are present around the world. Overall, the Northern American and Western European nations occupy prominent positions. However, South American, African and Asian countries apart from Japan only play a minor role in the global research production related to vitamin D. Since vitamin D deficiency is currently increasing in the Americas, Europe and parts of the Middle East, research in these regions may need to be encouraged.