Skin Cancer Prevention Communication: A Global Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature from 2011 to 2021

Growing evidence shows there is a spread of skin cancer as a global epidemic, making communication on prevention a public health priority. However, the reality contrasts with the high dispersion of literature. The main objective of this study was to gather and organise the literature to facilitate interdisciplinary research and future meta-studies. A bibliometric analysis of 53 research articles indexed in Web of Science (WoS) and Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) between 2011 and 2021 was conducted. The most prolific author was David B. Buller, connector of the two co-authorship networks identified, which had 2019 as the relay point. The United States was the country with the highest number of publications (67.9%), mostly applying the Health Belief Model (HBM). The sample population was largely adult, with a slight increase in interest in studying young people and university students from 2015 onwards. The most analysed topics were risk perception and media literacy, confirming the focus on prevention messages and public education. It is recommended that the authors define the lines of research, update the studies towards the analysis of social media and new media, and increase the focus on adolescents and young people, the target audience for skin cancer prevention messages.