Bibliometric analysis of Cardiovascular Disease Research Activity in the Arab World

Abstract

Background and Objectives: There is an increased number of non-communicable diseases i.e. chronic disease such as cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the Arab World. In this article, we will be aiming to measure the activity of cardiovascular disease (CVD) research via publications that have been released in the Arab World over the last 15 years.Methods: Search using Medline (via Ovid and PubMed) and EMBASE was used for this study. Publications related to cardiology/cardiovascular disease according to author origin/affiliation were collected from the 22 Arab countries between 2002 and 2016 (inclusive).Results: The Arab world only produced 1% of the total percentage of CVD publications over the interval of our study. There was however, an increase in the number of publications in recent years. Qatar and Lebanon had the highest ratio for CVD to Non-CVD publications released. Qatar had the highest number of publications per million persons. Tunisia had the highest number of publications per GDP (in US Billion Dollars).Conclusions: Overall, the Arab countries still lag behind other parts of the world in terms of CVD research activity. Five countries are responsible for the majority of publications.