Background Chronic respiratory diseases,
like bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a
worldwide health problem. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of asthma and
COPD-related research from Arab countries has not been explored and there are
few internationally published reports on such field. The main objectives of
this study were to analyze research output originating from Arab countries in
the field of bronchial asthma and COPD.
Methods
Original scientific articles or reviews published from the 22 Arab
countries were screened using specific words pertaining to asthma and COPD
using Scopus database and search engine. Research productivity was evaluated
based on: (a) total and trends of contribution of each Arab country to asthma and
COPD research and (b) journals in which researchers from Arab countries
published their research.
Results The
total number of original research and review articles published globally about
bronchial asthma and COPD was 163,964. The leading country in bronchial asthma
and COPD research was United States of America (38,632; 23.56%). Worldwide,
Turkey ranked 19th while Israel and Iran ranked 25th and 29th respectively.
Among Arab countries, Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came on positions 39th
and 43rd, respectively. A total of 1,304 documents about bronchial asthma and
COPD were published from Arab countries which represents 0.8% of the global
research output. Research in bronchial asthma was almost double that in COPD.
Research from Arab countries was low and showed a significant increase after
2000. Approximately 12% of research activity in asthma and COPD from Arab
countries was published in Saudi Medical Journal, Annals of Saudi Medicine,
Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal and Tunisie Medicale. Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, with a total publication of 353 (27.07%) ranked first among
the Arab countries while University of Kuwait was the most productive
institution with a total of 123 (9.43%) documents. Conclusions The present data showed
relatively low research productivity about bronchial asthma and COPD in Arab
countries. Research output can be improved by investing more in international
and national collaborative research projects in the field of asthma and COPD.
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Bronchial_Asthma_and_Chronic_Obstructive_Pulmonary_Disease_Research_Activity_in_Arab_Countries.pdf | 389.78 KB |