Bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 publications shows the importance of telemedicine and equitable access to the internet during the pandemic and beyond.

Background: Pandemics highlight the increasing role of information and communications technology for improving access to health care. This study aimed to present a bibliometric analysis of the concept of digital divide reported in the published articles concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Health Information & Libraries Journal Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 390 - 400
Autores principales: Samadbeik, Mahnaz, Bastani, Peivand, Fatehi, Farhad
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Dec2023
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Pandemics highlight the increasing role of information and communications technology for improving access to health care. This study aimed to present a bibliometric analysis of the concept of digital divide reported in the published articles concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: To conduct this bibliometric analysis of research topics and trends, we used VOSviewer software. We developed a search strategy to retrieve peerreviewed publications related to 'digital divide in the COVID-19 era' from the Scopus database. Results: In total, 241 publications on the topic of digital divide and COVID-19 were retrieved from Scopus database between 2020 and 2021. The analysis of keywords co-occurrence of research topics revealed four main clusters including: 'telemedicine', 'Internet access and Internet use', 'e-learning' and 'epidemiology'. Seven characteristic categories were examined in these research topics, including: sociodemographic, economic, social, cultural, personal, material and motivational. Conclusion: 'Telemedicine' and 'Internet access and Internet use' as the largest clusters are connected to topics addressing inequalities in online health care access. Thus, policymakers should develop or modify policies in more egalitarian Internet access for all community members not only during a pandemic like the COVID-19 but also at regular times.