Evolving landscape of research on cancer-related cognitive impairment: A bibliometric analysis

Hongxia Xie; Niu Niu; Zhaoyan Ming; Minghui Wu; Linghui Zeng; Yingchun Zeng

doi:10.1016/j.apjon.2023.100217

Evolving landscape of research on cancer-related cognitive impairment: A bibliometric analysis

Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2023 Mar 31;10(5):100217. doi: 10.1016/j.apjon.2023.100217. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Hongxia Xie¹, Niu Niu², Zhaoyan Ming¹, Minghui Wu¹, Linghui Zeng³, Yingchun Zeng³

Affiliations

¹ School of Computers and Computing Science, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of General Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
³ School of Medicine, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study describes the state of the art in the field of cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) to facilitate research opportunities in future CRCI research.

Methods: Five databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and PsycINFO, from inception to August 20, 2022. Python, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace software were used for data preprocessing and analysis.

Results: The published articles were predominantly from the United States, followed by China and Canada. Breast cancer and brain tumors were the dominant cancer types. The study population consisted mainly of adult cancer survivors. Prospective and multicenter studies were the most frequently used study designs. Keyword co-occurrence and mutation analysis indicated major themes: drug therapy was the most common treatment cluster, and adverse effects were another major cluster. The etiology of CRCI was a research hotspot and included the exploration of chemotherapy-associated and psychosocial factors by using measurement tools, such as neuropsychological tests and treatment outcomes.

Conclusions: This study's findings highlight CRCI as a major research area, on the basis of the significantly increasing number of annual publications. Keyword co-occurrence analysis provided a quantitative visualization of the current research status for CRCI, but this method cannot provide in-depth qualitative insights explaining the potential emerging trends in this field.

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Cancer survivors; Cancer-related cognitive impairment; Nursing care.