Global research trends in sexual health care: A bibliometric and visualized study

Abstract

No Patient or Public Contribution, because the relevant data of this article comes from the literature database.

Purpose

The present study aimed to investigate the trends and research status of sexual healthcare.

Methods

We searched the Web of Science database for relevant articles concerning sexual healthcare, published between 2009 and 31 December 2022. Data collected include: the number of publications, authors, journals, countries, institutions, keywords. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to conduct the bibliometric study and visualise the analysis.

Results

A total of 1450 publications were included. The number of publications on sexual healthcare shows a fluctuating upward trend, and a stable core group of authors has been formed. The Journal of Clinical Nursing published the most articles on sexual healthcare (140 publications). The United States of America published the most articles (723, 49.86%). The research institution with the highest number of publications is the University of São Paulo. According to the keyword, timeline view and prominence mapping analysis, we believe that ‘Female sexual health’, ‘HIV’, ‘LGBT’ and ‘Sexual Healthcare Services’ may be new research hotspots in the field of sexual healthcare.

Conclusion

This study describes the research status of sexual healthcare research over the past 14 years. The findings of this study can provide helpful reference and guidance for the development trend and research direction of sexual healthcare.