Mobile-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention: bibliometric analysis

Hongfan Yin; Hanjing Zhu; Jia Gu; Hengwei Qin; Wenjing Ding; Ningyuan Guo; Jingjing Fu; Yan Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1300739

Mobile-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention: bibliometric analysis

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 26:15:1300739. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1300739. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Hongfan Yin^#¹, Hanjing Zhu^#², Jia Gu^#¹, Hengwei Qin^#³, Wenjing Ding⁴, Ningyuan Guo¹, Jingjing Fu⁵, Yan Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Urology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Reference Department, Library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Nursing, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this article was to review existing documents in the field of mobile-based EMA and EMI, provide an overview of current hot topics, and predict future development trends.

Methods: We conducted a bibliometric study on mobile-based EMA and EMI publications that were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Biblioshiny and CiteSpace were utilized to analyze scientific productions, leading sources, authors, affiliations, documents, research hot topics, keywords, and trend topics.

Results: A total of 2222 documents related to EMA and EMI published between 1992 and 2023 were retrieved. In recent years, scholarly publications have generally increased in mobile-based EMA and EMI research, particularly in the last decade. JMIR mHealth and uHealth (n=86), as well as JMIR (n=73), showed the highest number of publications. The United States (n=1038), Germany (n=218) and Netherlands (n=175) were leading countries. Regarding keyword co-occurrence and trend topics analysis, mental health, health behaviors, and feasibility were hot topics in mobile-based EMA and EMI research. Future research trends included using EMA for tailoring EMI, just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI), and digital phenotyping.

Conclusion: This bibliometric study on mobile-based EMA and EMI is a valuable resource for understanding the field's evolution and future trends. Our analysis indicates that EMA and EMI have great potential in health behaviors and mental health, but implementation should consider feasibility and reactivity issues carefully. Emerging trends include EMA-tailored EMI, JITAI, and digital phenotyping. In the future, strengthening multidisciplinary cooperation will be necessary to promote the continued development of the field.

Keywords: ambulatory assessment; bibliometric analysis; ecological momentary assessment; ecological momentary intervention; mobile technology.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2021 (No.72174120), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine: Nursing Development Program, innovation research team of high-level local universities in Shanghai -SHSMU-ZDCX20212800.