Background: Military medicine is a research field that seeks to solve the medical problems that occur in modern war conditions based on public medicine theory.
Methods: We explore the main research topics of military health and medical research in the web of science™ core collection (WoSCC) from 2007 to 2016, and the goal of this work is to serve as a reference for orientation and development in military health and medicine. Based on CiteSpace III, a reference co-citation analysis is performed for 7921 papers published in the WoSCC from 2007 to 2016. In addition, a cluster analysis of research topics is performed with a comprehensive analysis of high-yield authors, outstanding research institutions and their cooperative networks.
Results: Currently, the research topics in military health and medicine mainly focus on the following seven aspects: mental health diagnoses and interventions, an army study to assess risk and resilience in service members (STARRS), large-scale military action, brain science, veterans, soldier parents and children of wartime, and wound infection. We also observed that the annual publication rate increased with time. Wessely S, Greenberg N, Fear NT, Smith TC, Smith B, Jones N, Ryan MAK, Boyko EJ, Hull L, and Rona RJ were the top 10 authors in military health and medicine research. The top 10 institutes were the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the United States Army, the United States Navy, Kings College London, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Boston University, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Naval Health Research Center, and the VA Boston Healthcare System.
Conclusions: We are able to perform a comprehensive analysis of studies in military health and medicine research and summarize the current research climate and the developmental trends in the WoSCC. However, further studies and collaborations are needed worldwide. Overall, our findings provide valuable information and new perspectives and shape future research directions for further research in the area of military health and medicine.
Keywords: CiteSpace; Knowledge mapping; Military health; Military medicine.