Research trends in GLP-1 receptor agonist marketing, social media, and safety: A bibliometric analysis and focused narrative synthesis

Background Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have moved rapidly from diabetes-focused therapy into widespread obesity treatment, while direct-to-consumer promotion, social media, and safety discourse have become increasingly visible. The way these topics are represented in the scientific literature has not been mapped in an integrated manner. Objective To characterize publication growth, thematic evolution, keyword structure, and international collaboration in research at the intersection of GLP-1 RAs, marketing, social media, misinformation, and safety. Methods We performed a Scopus-based bibliometric analysis of English-language publications from 2011 through 2024. The prespecified query returned 540 records, all of which were retained for the bibliometric corpus. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer were used for descriptive, temporal, keyword co-occurrence, thematic, and country collaboration analyses. Publication growth was summarized using the Bibliometrix annual growth metric and a third-order polynomial fit. Bibliometric findings were interpreted using a focused narrative synthesis restricted primarily to peer-reviewed studies and official regulatory sources. Results The corpus showed marked acceleration after 2020, with an annual growth rate of 12.61% and a third-order polynomial fit of R 2 = 0.947. Recent keyword patterns shifted away from earlier diabetes and comparative-pharmacology terminology toward obesity and semaglutide. Co-occurrence mapping identified five interpretable clusters centered on patient-related symptoms and digital discourse, safety and pharmacovigilance, marketing and consumer promotion, clinical outcomes and comorbidities, and comparative pharmacology. Country mapping showed concentrated output and collaboration among a limited number of high-output research hubs; country counts were based on full counting and were therefore non-exclusive. Conclusions The literature has evolved from a predominantly pharmacologic and diabetes-centered base toward obesity, semaglutide, public communication, marketing, and safety. These bibliometric patterns indicate changes in scholarly attention and connectivity, not causal effects of marketing on patient behavior or adverse outcomes. Future work should directly test relationships among digital exposure, prescribing behavior, safety signals, and access using empirical and multilingual designs.