Bibliometric evaluation of published Indian research on “Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices”

Abstract

Objective: Evaluation of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) based published Indian research on selected parameters. Methodology: A bibliometric analysis of Indian KAP research manuscript published in journals indexed in PubMed for the last 2 years and/or published in Indian Journal of Community Medicine (IJCM) and Indian Journal of Public Health (IJPH) for the last 15 years (year 2000–2014) was undertaken under certain criteria. Results: PubMed (n = 196) revealed maximum KAP research undertaken from the states of Karnataka (16.8%) followed by Delhi (9.6%), Maharashtra (9.1%), and more than two states (11.7%). There was poor reflection with no publication of KAP-based research from the states of Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Rajasthan, in IJCM and IJPH journals. The geographical representation of country through published manuscript in IJCM was slightly more diverse than IJPH and more than one-fourth manuscripts in IJPH were published from West Bengal only. It was evident that IJCM (n = 71) has published more KAP manuscripts than IJPH (n = 47). Higher proportion of community-based KAP research was published in IJPH (80.8%) than IJCM (57.7%). Highest single research domain in PubMed indexed journals was those related to oral cavity (14.2%) conducted by dental professionals while rest (85.8%) could be largely ascribed to community physician/public health personnel, etc. The first research domain was followed by family planning/contraceptives (6.1%), tobacco control (5.6%), and AIDS-HIV (5.1%), for the year 2013–2014. Highest KAP-based research domain of articles published in IJCM was those related to family planning/contraceptives (10.0%) followed by AIDS-HIV (8.5%) while it was tobacco (16.6%) and AIDS-HIV (14.5%) in IJPH. Number of authors/manuscript was slightly higher in journals indexed in PubMed (4.7) than IJCM (3.8) and IJPH (3.7). The average page/manuscript was higher in PubMed (6.4) indexed journals while it was similar in both Indian journal (IJCM [3.6] and IJPH [3.8]). Approximate time incurred in decision announcement toward acceptance of KAP manuscript (2000–2014) by IJCM from the date of submission was 7 months (median) while for comparison purpose, it was 6 months (median) for a sample of articles published during 2015.Average citations per KAP document within 2 years of publication were 1.9 (IJCM) and 1.2 (IJPH), respectively, in Google scholar. Conclusion: This bibliometric study, probably first of its kind in India, provides objective snap-shot of diverse published research in the country that may also aid scholar to explore new avenues of KAP especially non-communicable diseases in future. In-addition, postgraduate training could lay emphasis on the use of bibliometrics.