Mapping the Global Trends and Knowledge of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease: A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis from 2002 to 2022

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the research evolution process, hotspots, and trends of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) over the past 20 years and try to explore future development directions. Methods: Publications related to HFMD were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Based on bibliometric analysis, the keywords toward the publications, countries, institutions, authors, journals and references in the field of HFMD were quantitatively and visually analyzed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. Results: A total of 4,279 publications related to HFMD were published in 880 journals by 49,435 authors from 3,312 institutions in 93 countries/regions, with the number of publications on HFMD increasing over the past 20 years. The most productive and influential countries were China and the United States (USA). The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was the most prolific institution, and Shih SR was the most productive author. The most common keywords were enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), HFMD, enterovirus, myocarditis, coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3), coxsackievirus, vaccines, coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), antivirals, and inflammation. Moreover, research hotspots and trends shifted mainly from clinical symptoms, pathogenesis and epidemiology of HFMD to vaccine development, antiviral research, surveillance, and early warning. Conclusion: HFMD is a growing global public health concern. Our findings provide a systematic bibliometric mapping of the research landscape of HFMD over the past two decades, which may shed light on future development directions for researchers.