ArticlePublic health in practice (Oxford, England)2021
Social network research hotspots and trends in public health: A bibliometric and visual analysis.
Article in Public health in practice (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Loneliness and social networks of older adults in rural communities: a narrative synthesis systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- How electronic health literacy influences physical activity behaviour among university students: A moderated mediation model.PloS one · 2025Article
- The indispensableScandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2024Article
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
Objectives: To understand the research landscape and identify the research hotspots and trends of the application of social network theory and analysis to public health. Study design: A bibliometric study of publications regarding application of social network theory and analysis to public health. Methods: Choosing 1607 articles about the application of social network theory and analysis to public health from the core collection database of Web of Science published from 1991 to 2020 as the research sample. A bibliometric and visual analysis of publication quantity and content was performed to analyze time trends, spatial distribution, cooperation networks, influential references, and keyword co-occurrence, clusters, and emergence. Results: There is an increasing trend in the use of social network theory and analysis in the public health field, with the United States taking the lead. Research focuses include on transmission of diseases or behavior through social networks and the influence of social networks on population health at different ages. Current research frontiers primarily include the role of social networks in tracking of emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19, preventing and controlling chronic diseases, and carrying out healthy behavioral interventions. Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive quantitative overview of the historic development of and latest topics in the application of social network theory and analysis method to public health. More attention should be paid to the important role of social networks in tracing the emergence of serious infectious diseases like COVID-19, as well as preventing and controlling chronic diseases and intervening in health behaviors, considering the increasing challenges and opportunities presented by online social networking.
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.