ReviewMedicine2026
Knowledge structure and research trends of health impact assessment: A bibliometric review from 2000 to 2022.
Review in Medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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
backgroundSince the 1999 WHO Gothenburg consensus, health impact assessment (HIA) has evolved into a critical tool for evidence-based policy. However, a quantitative macro-level analysis of its global evolution over the last 2 decades remains scarce.
objectivesThis study aims to quantify the global scientific production, identify key research hubs, map the intellectual structure, and detect emerging hotspots in HIA research from 2000 to 2022.
methodsA bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection. Peer-reviewed English "Articles" published between 2000 and 2022 were included. To ensure bibliographic quality, records were manually screened to exclude irrelevant documents and early 2023 publications. Data analysis and visualization were performed using the R-package "bibliometrix" (version 4.1.2), VOSviewer, and ggplot2.
resultsA total of 476 articles were included. The field exhibited a significant annual growth rate of 15.43%, with a notable surge after 2010. The United States (n = 80), the United Kingdom (n = 68), and Spain (n = 38) were the most productive countries. While traditional Western nations dominate, China is emerging as a significant research hub following the "Healthy China 2030" policy. Thematic analysis reveals a shift from foundational methodological concepts to specific environmental health determinants, particularly air pollution, particulate matter, and active transportation. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health was the most prolific journal, while Environmental Health Perspectives held the highest citation impact.
conclusionsHIA research has matured into a robust, interdisciplinary field characterized by quantitative modeling of urban determinants. Despite rapid growth, a significant "North-South" implementation gap exists. Future research should prioritize HIA applications in the Global South and integrate gray literature to better capture practical policy impacts.
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.