Research Trends on Primary Healthcare Integration: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: integrating primary health care services is a key focus in strengthening global health systems, particularly achieving universal health coverage (UHC). This study aims to analyze trends in scientific publications related to integrating primary healthcare services using bibliometric analysis.Method: articles were searched using the Scopus database. Mendeley and OpenRefine software were used to clean and cluster keywords. Data analysis was conducted using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software to identify publication trends, citation trends, keyword analysis, authors, inter-researcher collaboration, and affiliations. The database search yielded 130 articles from 1994 to April 2025.Results: a significant increase in the number of publications began in 2014, peaking in 2024. The average number of citations was approximately 13,81 citations per document. Co-occurrence network analysis identified three keyword clusters: the red cluster focused on operational aspects and service challenges, the blue cluster focused on organizational capacity and support systems, and the green cluster focused on collaborative strategies and holistic approaches. "Primary healthcare integration" is the central topic connected to various keywords in the three clusters. The total number of authors is 676, with an average of 5–6 authors per article. Affiliations and publication sources are predominantly from the United States. International collaboration continues to grow, but there remains a gap in research contributions from developing countries, particularly in Africa and AsiaConclusions: this study highlights the importance of global collaboration and research capacity development in countries that are developing primary healthcare systems.

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