Chee Hwui Liew - School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Gerard Flaherty - School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

Introduction: High altitude destinations are popular among international travelers. Travel medicine practitioners should be familiar with altitude physiology and high altitude illness recognition, prophylaxis, and management. We performed the first bibliometric analysis of high altitude medicine research. Methods: All articles published in a specialist high altitude medicine journal through April ۲۰۲۰ were mapped against the ۳۴ domains in a theoretical body of knowledge. Citation counts of articles, as well as authors publishing the most articles, were obtained from Scopus. Collaboration analysis was performed using established methods. Results: Mapping of ۱۱۵۰ articles published from ۲۰۰۰ to ۲۰۲۰ identified the leading domains represented by high altitude medicine articles. The top five domains were altitude acclimatization and deterioration (۱۹.۴%, n=۵۱۰); cardiovascular physiology (۶.۸%, n=۱۸۰); work at altitude (۶.۶%, n=۱۷۴); acute mountain sickness (۶.۴%, n=۱۶۹); respiratory and acid-base physiology (۵.۹%, n=۱۵۵). Published articles attracted a total of ۱۳,۳۲۴ citations, with a mean of ۱۱.۶ citations per article. The average number of citations per author was ۲۲.۳. The USA was the most productive country with ۴۳۲ publications (۳۷.۶%), followed by the UK (۹.۵%, n=۱۰۹) and Switzerland (۵.۶%, n=۶۴). The collaboration index for multi-authored publications increased from ۳.۸ in ۲۰۰۲ to ۵.۴ in ۲۰۱۹. Conclusion: We have performed the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis in high altitude medicine. Efforts to increase the research activity in neglected topics and to promote greater collaboration between high altitude medicine and related fields of study such as travel medicine may be worthwhile.

Bibliometric analysis, High Altitude Medicine, Research, Citation analysis, Curriculum Map