Current status and hotspots in breast cancer patient self-management research: a bibliometric and visual analysis via CiteSpace (Preprint)

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide.With significant improvements in breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment, the number of breast cancer survivors has significantly increased.Individuals with chronic illnesses often develop self-management skills as they cope with their condition, and these include: management of disease symptoms, detection of physiological and psychosocial changes, and lifestyle changes.Fewer studies have systematically summarised the hotspots, pathways and trends in self-care of breast cancer patients, and information on the history, current status and future trends of studies related to self-management of breast cancer patients is incomplete.

Purpose: To analyze the current status, hotspots, and research trends related to self-management in breast cancer patients from 2005 to 2023 using Citespace on the Web of Science core database.

Method: A search was conducted in the WoSCC from January 1, 2005, to August 31, 2023. The literature was visualised and analysed by CiteSpace 6.1.R6 for publication time, number of articles, country distribution, institutional distribution, reference co-citation, and keywords.

Results: A total of 1,413 English-language documents were included in the research on self-management of breast cancer patients from 2005 to 2023. The USA had the highest amount of issuance, while the University of Toronto had the most among institutions. The reference with the highest number of co-citations was "Self-Management: Enabling and empowering patients living with cancer as a chronic illness. "High-frequency keywords are quality of life, chronic disease, self-management, patient education, randomised controlled trials, education, intervention. These keywords formed 11 clusters related to the content of the intervention, the way of the intervention, outcome indicators, keyword burst analysis predicted that future research hotspots would focus on patient needs, psychological distress, internet technology, and mobile apps.

Conclusions: The research on breast cancer self-management is expanding rapidly. To further promote the development in this field, it’s crucial to strengthen cooperation and communication between different countries/regions and institutions. The findings suggest that there’s a need for more research in this field, particularly in areas such as patient needs and the use of technology to improve breast cancer patient self-management. Additionally, our findings offer suggestions for future research.