Évolution de la recherche internationale en éducation du patient : une analyse bibliométrique

Introduction: We performed a bibliometric analysis of the international studies published on patient education (PE) over the past 40 years. Methods: The query of six major databases showed a dramatic increase of the number of studies from 1970 to 2014, reaching 77854 articles (PubMed), namely an average annual increase at 3 digits. On this subject, 1695 books have been published. Results: The peak is reached during the period 2004–2014 with 13109 literature reviews, 5977 RCTs, 397 meta-analyzes. Oncology, cardiology, diabetology, neurology and psychiatry are the five disciplines more involved in research on PE. Conclusion: our analysis illustrates the exponential growth of research in patient education and its scientific legitimacy in the therapy of chronic diseases.