Objective  To understand the research status of social network analysis methods in the medicine and health field, help medical scientific research managers quickly understand the publication situation and research hotspots of the methods, and provide references for them to use social network analysis methods to enter deeper research. Methods  PubMed, Web of Science, Springer Link, ScienceDirect, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and VIP databases were searched for related literature on social network analysis methods in the medical and health field from the establishment of databases to April 2022. Bibliometric analysis was used to analyze the included articles. Results  A total of 432 articles were included, with 424 in Chinese and 8 in English. The included articles were published between 1993 and 2020, involving 154 journals and 913 key words. The number of documents increased rapidly at first, and then entered a stable stage. The hot research directions were the spread and prevention of diseases and the power of social support networks. Conclusions  Although the number of applications of social network analysis methods in the medical and health field has increased year by year and the application flexibility has increased, the application depth is still lacking. Scientific researchers should dig deep into the research direction, combine theory with practice, and focus on innovation.

Citation： ZHU Xiaofeng, DUAN Qian. Bibliometric analysis of the application of social network analysis methods in the medical and health field. West China Medical Journal, 2022, 37(12): 1851-1856. doi: 10.7507/1002-0179.202204130 Copy