A citation network analysis of the rural dementia literature

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThere are key differences between urban and rural areas in terms of dementia risk, diagnosis, treatment, and service availability and utilization. Despite the unique and important context of rural areas, there has been relatively little research on dementia in rural areas. A broad yet comprehensive understanding of the existing rural dementia literature is an important step in grounding future dementia research in the existing literature and field.MethodIn June 2021, we conducted a citation network analysis of articles on rural dementia. Articles were identified using Web of Science and inclusion criteria included having “rural” and “Alzheimer’s” or “dementia” in the title. The abstracts of articles meeting these criteria were then reviewed manually by two researchers to ensure the primary focus was on rural dementia. Bibliographic data for the final sample of articles was downloaded from Web of Science and imported into VOS Viewer, a software tool for constructing and visualizing bibliometric networks.ResultThree hundred articles were included for analyses. Using time‐adjusted number of citations as a measure of prominence, 142 (47.3%) articles had been cited more than 10 times. An analysis of these 142 articles revealed twelve clusters. We found no patterns among the clusters based on publication year but found that publications tended to cite others originating from countries in close geographic proximity. Text citation analysis revealed three sub‐themes among the articles based on keywords: long‐term care studies, epidemiological studies, and community‐based and caregiver services studies, with few citations between the last two sub‐themes.ConclusionThere are three key findings from this analysis that help elucidate the rural dementia literature. First, authors publishing on rural dementia are citing older and newer articles at the same rate, suggesting the field is actively growing. Second, many countries are contributing to the literature base but authors still tend to cite articles originating from their own country or those close to them, suggesting there is a missed opportunity to learn from the global community. Third, there are three sub‐themes dominating the literature with little citations across sub‐themes, which suggests a need for more interdisciplinary research.