Mapeo científico del gasto de bolsillo en salud: análisissobre la evolución e identificación de tendencias

Introduction: Health care services around the world in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted public policy makers to develop mechanisms to ensure that health spending is predominantly public, as out-of-pocket spending becomes impoverishing and catastrophic for families. Due to growing academic and professional interest in these issues, this research aims to conduct a literature review based on scientific mapping of out-of-pocket health spending. Objective: To analyze scientific developments in out-of-pocket health spending to determine trends in this area. Methodology: A search was conducted of scientific output recorded in WoS and Scopus over the last two decades. Subsequently, using bibliometric tools and network analysis, the current structure of knowledge on the subject was presented. Results: Four emerging research trends were identified: determinants of increased health spending, financial protection in health, impoverishing health spending, and catastrophic health spending. Conclusion: Out-of-pocket health expenditure has generated growing interest in the professional and scientific community due to its impact on medical care, especially for high-cost patients, on the financing of health systems, and on the reduction of economic inequalities.