Global Trends and Research Hotspots in Long COVID: A Bibliometric Analysis
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Public Health
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Long COVID is a condition distinguished by long-term sequelae that occur or persist after the convalescence period of COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 experienced long COVID, which attracted the attention of researchers. This study aims to assess the pattern of long COVID research literature, analyze the research topics, and provide insights on long COVID. In this study, we extracted 784 publications from Scopus in the field of long COVID. According to bibliometric analysis, it is found that: developed countries in Europe and America were in leading positions in terms of paper productivity and citations. The and the were leading journals in the perspective of publications count, and had the highest number of citations. Author Greenhalgh T has the highest number of papers and citations. The main research topics were: pathophysiology, symptoms, treatment, and epidemiology. The causes of long COVID may be related to organ injury, inflammation, maladaptation of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) pathway, and mental factors. The symptoms are varied, including physical and psychological symptoms. Treatment options vary from person to person. Most patients developed at least one long-term symptom. Finally, we presented some possible research opportunities.
Long COVID Research, 2020-2024: A PubMed-Based Bibliometric Analysis.
Honorato-Cia C, Cacho-Asenjo E, Martinez-Simon A, Aquerreta I, Nunez-Cordoba J Healthcare (Basel). 2025; 13(3).
PMID: 39942487 PMC: 11816931. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare13030298.
A critical analysis of UK media characterisations of Long Covid in children and young people.
Connor C, Kranert M, Mckelvie S, Clutterbuck D, McFarland S, Alwan N PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024; 4(11):e0003126.
PMID: 39602373 PMC: 11602070. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003126.
Ou P, Wen R, Shi L, Wang J, Liu C Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2024; 19(1):345.
PMID: 39272071 PMC: 11401438. DOI: 10.1186/s13023-024-03352-1.
Malheiro D, Bernardez-Pereira S, Parreira K, Pagliuso J, de Paula Gomes E, de Mesquita Escobosa D Front Public Health. 2024; 11:1302669.
PMID: 38317683 PMC: 10839020. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1302669.
Visual analysis of hotspots and trends in long COVID research based on bibliometric.
Lai Z, Pu T, Li J, Bai F, Wu L, Tang Y Heliyon. 2024; 10(2):e24053.
PMID: 38293444 PMC: 10827472. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24053.