Ann Occup Environ Med.  2016 ;28(1):40. 10.1186/s40557-016-0128-x.

Drinking and recreational water-related diseases: a bibliometric analysis (1980–2015)

• Sweileh WM
• Zyoud SH
• Al-Jabi SW
• Sawalha AF
• Shraim NY

• KMID: 2370920
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-016-0128-x

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Water - related diseases are worldwide health concern. Microbial contamination and contaminant products in water are a source of disease outbreaks and development of cumulative toxic effects. Ensuring safe water is one of the goals to be achieved at the global level. The aim of this study was to assess publications on drinking and recreational water from a health point of view to understand current problems and future research trends in this field.
METHODS
Scopus, the largest scientific electronic database, was used to retrieve related articles and present the results as bibliometric tables and maps. Search query was modified manually using related terms to maximize accuracy.
RESULTS
A total of 2267 publications were retrieved with an average of 16.82 citations per article. The h-index of retrieved articles was 88. Visual mapping showed that E. coli, diarrhea, cryptosporidiosis, fluoride, arsenic, cancer, chlorine, trihalomethane, and H. pylori were most frequently encountered terms in title and abstract of retrieved articles. The number of articles on water microbiology was a significant (P"‰<"‰0.01) predictor of worldwide productivity of water - related disease publications. Journal of Water and Health ranked first in number of publications with 136 (6.00 %) articles. The United States of America ranked first in productivity with a total of 623 (27.48 %) articles. Germany (15.44 %), India (16.00 %) and China (20.66 %) had the least international collaboration in water-related disease research. Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Prevention and Control were among top ten productive institutions. In the top ten cited articles, there were three articles about arsenic, one about aluminum, one about trihalomethane, one about nitrate, one about toxoplasmosis, one about gastroenteritis, and the remaining two articles were general ones.
CONCLUSIONS
There was a linear increase in the number of publications on water - related diseases in the last decade. Arsenic, in drinking water is a serious concern. Cryptosporidiosis and other infectious gastroenteritis remain a major health risk of exposure to contaminated water. Increased number of publications from Asian countries was not associated with a high percentage of international collaboration.

Keyword

Keywords; Drinking water; Recreational water; Disease; Bibliometrics

MeSH Terms

Aluminum
Americas
Animals
Arsenic
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Bibliometrics*
China
Chlorine
Cooperative Behavior
Cryptosporidiosis
Diarrhea
Disease Outbreaks
Drinking Water
Drinking*
Efficiency
Fluorides
Gastroenteritis
Germany
Humans
India
Toxoplasmosis
Trihalomethanes
United States
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Water
Water Microbiology
Waterborne Diseases*
Aluminum
Arsenic
Chlorine
Drinking Water
Fluorides
Trihalomethanes
Water