ArticleBMJ open2019
The influence of complexity: a bibliometric analysis of complexity science in healthcare.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Workplace interventions focusing on how to plan, organize and design the work environment in hospital settings: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Mapping two decades of forensic virtopsy: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis (2006-2025).International journal of legal medicine · 2026Review
- Artificial Intelligence in Infectious Disease Research.EcoHealth · 2026Article
- Application of Artificial Intelligence in Nursing: A Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research Trends.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Moving from change agents to improvement architects through the Four Cs model: rethinking healthcare's complexity, cultures, contexts and connections.Frontiers in health services · 2026Review
- Six Sigma research in healthcare is associated with global health, research and development indicators: A scientometrics study based on countries by income groups.Anales del sistema sanitario de Navarra · 2025Article
- If things were simple, word would have gotten around. Can complexity science help us improve pediatric research?Pediatric research · 2025Review
- Charting progress in learning health systems: A systematic review of 5 years of definitions, models, and frameworks.Learning health systems · 2025Article
- Mature-Aged People in the Rural Health Workforce System: A Systems Modelling Approach.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- Six Sigma Applied to Healthcare: A Global Scientometrics Analysis of Health Services Quality Improvement Research.Health services insights · 2025Article
- Global Trends and Evidence Gaps in Medical Errors Research: A Mixed-Methods Scientometrics Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- The nursing practice environment and hospital sociotechnical complexity: a mixed-methods study.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2024Article
- How Clinicians Decide? Exploring Complexity of Antibiotic Prescribing in Emergency Departments Using Video-Reflexive Ethnography.Qualitative health research · 2023Article
- Article
- Brain Complexity and Psychiatric Disorders.Iranian journal of psychiatry · 2023Review
- Digital Health Implementation Strategies Coproduced With Adults With Acquired Brain Injury, Their Close Others, and Clinicians: Mixed Methods Study With Collaborative Autoethnography and Network Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Application of complexity theory in health and social care research: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Developing the Quality in Nutrition Care Model for Dietitians (QUINCE-MOD) in primary care: A mixed-method survey of healthcare consumers and professionals.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2023Article
- Mapping Health Professions Education: Using Complexity Science to Make Sense of Learning Through Electronic Consultations.Medical science educator · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo analyse trends in the academic literature applying complexity science to healthcare, focusing specifically on bibliometric characteristics and indicators of influence.
designThis study reports a bibliometric analysis via a systematic search of the academic literature applying complexity science to healthcare.
methodA search of four academic databases was performed on 19 April 2018. Article details were downloaded and screened against inclusion criteria (peer-reviewed journal articles applying complexity science to healthcare). Publication and content data were then collected from included articles, with analysis focusing on trends over time in the types and topics of articles, and where they are published. We also analysed the influence of this body of work through citation and network analyses.
resultsArticles on complexity science in healthcare were published in 268 journals, though a much smaller subset was responsible for a substantial proportion of this literature. USA contributed the largest number of articles, followed by the UK, Canada and Australia. Over time, the number of empirical and review articles increased, relative to non-empirical contributions. However, in general, non-empirical literature was more influential, with a series of introductory conceptual papers being the most influential based on both overall citations and their use as index references within a citation network. The most common topics of focus were health systems and organisations generally, and education, with recent uptake in research, policy, and change and improvement.
conclusionsThis study identified changes in the types of articles on complexity science in healthcare published over time, and their content. There was evidence to suggest a shift from conceptual work to the application of concrete improvement strategies and increasingly in-depth examination of complex healthcare systems. We also identified variation in the influence of this literature at article level, and to a lesser extent by topic of focus.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.