Evaluation of activities and instrumental activities of daily living and correlated factors of traumatic brain injury patients in Vietnam.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the leading causes of death in Vietnam. Survivors of TBI suffer from functional and cognitive deficits. Understanding that Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are crucial in measuring the treatment and health-related quality of life among patients with TBI. This study aims to evaluate ADLs and IADLs among the TBI population in Vietnam and determine the correlated factors to these two indices. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 212 patients with TBI in Vietnam from February to September 2020. ADLs and IADLs scales were applied. Depression, quality of sleep, and social support scales were used. Multivariate Tobit regression was adopted to identify factors associated with ADLs and IADLs. Patients who received first aid had higher ADLs scores than those who had not, by a statistical difference with a p value = 0.04. The mean ADLs score was 5.4 (SD = 1.4). The mean score of IADLs was 7.3 (SD = 1.7). Female patients (Mean = 7.6, SD = 1.1) performed better in IADLs than male patients (Mean = 7.1, SD = 1.9). Both ADLs and IADLs were affected strongly by depression and Injury Severity scores (p < 0.01), whereas IADLs were significantly correlated to caregiver types and quality of sleep (p < 0.01). Family support was observed as a negatively correlated factor to IADLs. Findings from the study provided evidence for authorities to adjust the health strategies among patients with TBI. Proper prehospital care, a basic low-cost hospital care model, and mental health counseling services should be considered when developing health interventions in Vietnam.

Economic burden and financial vulnerability of injuries among the elderly in Vietnam.

Falls are a leading cause of death among elderly people. However, research on the cost of fall-related injuries is limited in Vietnam. We estimated treatment costs and associated factors among 405 elderly patients in Thai Binh hospitals. Costs were estimated through self-reported data on medical and non-medical expenses. Logistic regression and GLM were used to identify payment and affordability factors. Inpatient and outpatient care costs for fall-related injuries were US$98.06 and US$8.53, respectively. 11.85% of participants couldn't pay for treatment. Payment ability and cost decline were linked to family income, medical history, and hospital stay length. Elderly with fall-related injuries in Vietnam experienced high costs and severe health issues. Primary healthcare services and communication campaigns should be strengthened to reduce disease burden and develop effective fall injury prevention strategies.

A global bibliometric analysis of intimate partner violence in the field of HIV/AIDS: implications for interventions and research development.

This study aimed to explore the research landscape of intimate partner violence (IPV)-harm-induced behavior in an intimate relationship and HIV/AIDS to determine lessons learnt and gaps that may be filled by future research. Publications related to IPV, and HIV/AIDS published from 1997 to 2019 were collected from Web of Science (WoS). STATA and VOSviewer software tools were used for bibliometric analysis. Content analysis, common topics, and the map of co-occurrence terms were structured by Latent Dirichlet allocation and VOSviewer software tool. 941 studies were included. Factors associated with domestic violence and interventions to reduce IPV were the two most common themes. Meanwhile, mental health illness among pregnant women affected by HIV and IPV, and HIV-risk among youth suffering from IPV have not received adequate attention. We suggest that more research focusing on adolescents and pregnant women affected by HIV and IPV. In addition, the development of collaborative networks between developed and developing countries should also be addressed.

Impacts of COVID-19 on career choices in health professionals and medical students.

BACKGROUNDS: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in not only significant mortalities in Vietnam but has had an impact on its economy. Previous studies have highlighted how the pandemic has had a marginal impact on Vietnamese healthcare workers working at the frontlines. To date, there have been several other studies examining the impact of COVID-19 on intentions to transition between jobs among healthcare professionals, but this has yet to be explored amongst Vietnamese healthcare workers. METHODS: To achieve the study's objectives an online cross-sectional study was conducted between September to November 2021. Snowball sampling methodology was adopted for the recruitment of participants. The questionnaire that was used for this study comprised of the following sections: (a) socio-demographic information; (b) impact of COVID-19 on work; (c) risk of exposure to COVID-19; (d) career choices/intentions to change job, and (e) motivation at work. RESULTS: There were 5727 completed the entire survey. 17.2% of the respondents have had increased job satisfaction, 26.4% reported increased motivation to work, and 40.9% reported decreased motivation to work. Whilst there were changes in the daily work intensity and the level of work-related stress, more than 60% of respondents we sampled did not intend to switch careers. Demographic variables like gender, whether one was a student or an existing healthcare worker, and income related to work motivation. The community's stigma was a negative factor that declined intrinsic motivation as well as decreased work retention. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is instrumental in identifying the impact of COVID-19 on career choices amongst Vietnamese healthcare workers. The factors identified have clear implications for policymaking.

Association of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics to Problematic Internet Use among Youths and Adolescents: Evidence from Vietnam.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine latent profiles from the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire Short Form-6 (PIUQ-SF-6) score of Vietnamese youths and adolescents, which supports the diagnosis of problematic internet use among a large sample size. Moreover, it also explored factors that affect each latent profile of the PIUQ-SF-6 score among participants. METHODS: A sample of 1477 Vietnamese people, aged 14 to 24, across five provinces participated in the study. Multinomial logistic regression determined factors related to the levels of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire Short Form-6 (PIUQ-SF-6) after using latent profile analysis. RESULTS: Participants were divided into three profiles, including those at low, moderate, and high risk of internet addiction. The high-risk latent profile was obtained for 23.1% of adolescents, and the remaining percentages were, respectively, 40.2% and 36.7% of adolescents belonging to the moderate and low-risk groups. Moreover, factors including age, living alone, high Kessler psychological distress scale, excessive time on the internet, living in central cities, and high neighborhood disorder scores were found to be related to moderate- and high-risk internet addiction profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Factors analyzed according to individual and social characteristics further explore the reasons underlying increasing internet addiction among Vietnamese youths and inform early interventions.

Global mapping of epidemic risk assessment toolkits: A scoping review for COVID-19 and future epidemics preparedness implications.

Preparedness and responses to infectious disease epidemics and pandemics require the understanding of communities' and multisectoral systems' characteristics with regards to diseases transmission and population's vulnerabilities. This study aimed to summarize measurement profiles of existing risk assessment toolkits to inform COVID-19 control at global and national levels. An online search in different databases and online sources was performed to identify all epidemic risk and vulnerability assessment instruments. Medline/PubMed, Web of Science databases, and websites of public health organizations were used for the searching process. Of 14 toolkits, levels of setting were mostly at the global or nation level. Components such as Governance and Legislation, Financing, Health Service Provision, and Human Resources are key domains in almost all toolkits. Some important issues for disease detection and surveillance, such as laboratory or capacity of the community for disease control, were not adequately addressed in several toolkits. Limited studies were found that validated the toolkits. Only five toolkits were used in COVID-19 studies. This study provides a summary of risk assessment toolkits to inform epidemic responses. We call for global and national efforts in developing more contextualized and responsive epidemic risk assessment scales incorporating specific-disease and -country factors to inform operational decisions making and strengthen countries' capacities in epidemic responses.

Mental wellbeing among urban young adults in a developing country: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the mental wellbeing profiles and their related factors among urban young adults in Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hanoi, which is the capital of Vietnam. There were 356 Vietnamese who completed the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5) questionnaire. The Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify the subgroups of mental wellbeing through five items of the MHI-5 scale as the continuous variable. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine factors related to subgroups. Results: Three classes represented three levels of MHI-5 score, which included "Poor mental health," "Fair mental health," and "Good mental health," were, respectively, 14.3, 46.6, and 39.0%. Compared to a low household economy, participants with an average household economy had 2.11 and 4.79 times higher odds of being in a good mental health class relative to fair and poor mental health classes. Respondents with more than two acute symptoms had 3.85 times higher odds of being in a good mental health class relative to a poor mental health class, as compared to those without acute symptoms. Regarding the measurement of the Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS), people having support from their family had 1.80 and 2.23 times higher odds of being in classes of fair and good mental health relative to the poor mental health class; and participants having friend support also had 1.87 times higher odds of being in a good mental health class compared with the fair mental health class, as the MSPSS score increased by 1 unit. People with Rosenberg's self-esteem scale increased by 1 score, those who had 1.17, 1.26, and 1.47 times higher odds of being in a good compared to fair mental health class, fair compared to poor mental health class, and good compared to poor mental health class, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings were given to promote a new classification method for mental health screening among the general population. The current findings could be used as evidence to develop policies and plans that focus on encouraging early screening for mental health problems among the general young population in the future.

Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Internet Use in a Developing Country: Adolescents' Perspectives.

Objective: The goal of the study was to explore the relationship between parent-children relationships related to using the internet among kids and potentially associated factors. Materials and Methods: A sample of 1.216 Vietnamese students between the ages of 12 and 18 agreed to participate in the cross-sectional online survey. Data collected included socioeconomic characteristics and internet use status of participants, their perceived changes in relationship and communication between parents and children since using the internet, and parental control toward the child's internet use. An Ordered Logistic Regression was carried out to determine factors associated with parent-children relationship since using the internet. Results: The characteristics of the relationship between children and their parents since using the Internet were divided into three levels: deterioration (7.0%), stability (78.2%), and improvement (14.8%). The topics that children most often communicate with their parents include learning, housework, and future directions. Two-way interactive activities, such as supporting parents to use the Internet, have a positive impact on the parent-child relationship. Stubborn parental control, such as establishing rules about contact or allowing Internet access and setting up global positioning system (GPS) to track negatively affecting parent-child relationships. Conclusion: Findings indicated that changes in the quality of the parent-child relationship were self-assessed by participants regard to kids' internet use, especially in the COVID-19 epidemic context. Educational campaigns and programs to raise awareness of parents as to the dangers and negative influences that their children may encounter online, psychology of children's behaviors and effects of different responding strategies are recommended.

Gaps of Knowledge about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Industrial Workers in Northern Vietnam.

Industrial workers are a vulnerable population for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This cross-sectional study assessed the general knowledge about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV transmission risk among 289 industrial workers in Northern Vietnam. Results indicated that most workers could identify common routes of HIV transmissions and were aware of common STIs. However, insufficient knowledge about HIV transmission via anal sex practices, as well as common signs and symptoms of STIs were observed. Gender, marital status, education, locality status and health information sources were associated with the knowledge. This study reveals a gap of knowledge about HIV and other STIs, and suggested further tailored education interventions to improve the knowledge and promote sexual health-seeking behaviors in industrial workers.

Ensuring Population Health in the Era of Aging in Vietnam: Policy Review and Factors Associated with Intentions of Childbearing before the Age of 30 among Youths.

Background: Delayed childbearing has become a concern among policymakers across the world. In Vietnam, population policies have been adjusted to cope with this issue. In 2020, Decision 588/QD-TTg was ratified to encourage people to marry and give birth before the age of 30. This study reviewed recent changes in Vietnam's population policies and assessed the intention of giving birth before 30 in young Vietnamese to provide insights into the potential effectiveness of the policy changes among young people. Methods: This study combined two approaches: a desk review and a survey of a group of youths. An online cross-sectional study was conducted on 116 respondents aged 16 to 30 in Vietnam from June to July 2020. The intention of childbearing before 30 and the importance and responsiveness of different social-environmental factors were asked using a structured questionnaire. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify associated factors of such intention. Results: The incentives set out by the Vietnamese government shared similarities with those of other countries. The plan of childbearing before the age of 30 among young adults in Vietnam was demonstrated to correlate with age, socioeconomic and biological characteristics, resources of the local health systems, as well as a clean and safe living environment. Conclusion: This study highlighted the recent crucial shift in Vietnam's population policy. However, the quantitative analysis suggested that measures relating to environmental factors should be incorporated under this policy, implying that further interventions need to be taken into account to cope with delayed childbearing.

Chronic Pain and Associated Factors Related to Depression among Older Patients in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The interaction of chronic pain and depression among older people has been studied for many years. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of chronic pain and depression among older patients and correlated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 921 older patients at the National Geriatric Hospital from November 2019 to March 2020. We used the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to assess the comorbid condition, a numerical rating scale (NRS) to examine pain severity, and Geriatric Depression Scale-15 items (GDS-15) to measure depression among participants. A chi-square test and Tobit regression were used to analyze the relationships. A total of 921 older patients participated in the study. The proportion of depression accounted for 55.8%. The mean Charlson score and number of diseases were 1.2 and 4.7, respectively. A positive correlation was found between comorbidity and chronic pain and depression. Moreover, socio-demographic variables such as occupation, education, and income were associated with pain and depressive symptoms. This study highlights the issue of mental health in older people with chronic pain. The results indicate the necessity of frequent depression screening, pain management, and social activity programs for older people to enhance their health.

Cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form (YQOL-SF) in a developing South-East Asian country.

This study was performed to evaluate the measurement properties of Youth Quality of Life-Short Form (YQOL-SF) in assessing the quality of life (QOL) among general youths in Vietnam. An online cross-sectional study was conducted to validate the YQOL-SF. Factor analysis (including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to determine the factorial structure of this tool. The psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the new factorial model were assessed. The factor analysis revealed the two-factor model of YQOL-SF including factor 1 "Belief in self and family", and factor 2 "Environment and relationships". Cronbach's alpha value showed excellent internal consistency in both factors (0.911 and 0.910, respectively). Results also indicated good convergent, divergent, concurrent, and know-group validity of the two-factor model. Our study provided a promising model with different domains that were proved to be essential for the assessment of quality of life among Vietnamese youth aged 16-24. Our two-factor model affirmed that a balance between detail and length of the assessment is important to consider when selecting YQOL-SF for youths' QOL assessment. It helped reduce the risk of redundancy and encourages high survey completion rates among participants.

Bullying experience in urban adolescents: Prevalence and correlations with health-related quality of life and psychological issues.

This study examined the 3-month rate of bullying experience, associated factors, and measure the relationships between bullying experience with health-related quality of life and different mental disorders among secondary school students. We performed a cross-sectional study in four secondary schools in Hanoi, Vietnam. Bullying experience was evaluated by using questions about eighteen specific-bullying behaviors. EuroQol-5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale- 21 items (DASS-21) were used to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and mental health of participants, respectively. Among 712 secondary school students, the 3-month prevalence of physical, social aggression, verbal, and sexual bullying experience were 8.4%; 31.2%; 11.9%, and 2.7%, respectively. Being bullied were negatively associated with levels of classmates and family support, as well as levels of school security. Being overweight or obese was related to a higher likelihood of suffering social aggression compared to normal BMI. Being bullied was significantly associated with the decrement of HRQOL, and the increased risk of depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents. Findings of this study suggested that holistic approaches involving family, peers, and schools, along with enhancing school security, are potential approaches to reduce the impact of bullying on adolescents' life and well-being.

Cyberbullying Among School Adolescents in an Urban Setting of a Developing Country: Experience, Coping Strategies, and Mediating Effects of Different Support on Psychological Well-Being.

Background: This study examined the cyberbullying experience and coping manners of adolescents in urban Vietnam and explored the mediating effect of different support to the associations between cyberbullying and mental health issues. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 484 students at four secondary schools. Cyberbullying experience, coping strategies, psychological problems, and family, peer, and teacher support were obtained. Structural equation modeling was utilized to determine the mediating effects of different support on associations between cyberbullying and psychological problems. Results: There were 11.6 and 28.3% of students who reported that they experienced and observed at least one cyberbullying act in the last 3 months, respectively. Among the victims, only 48.2% tried to stop the perpetrators. Meanwhile, the majority of observers belonged to the "Intervene" group who tried to report cyberbullying acts or help victims. Family support was found to partially mediate associations between cyberbullying experience and observation with levels of psychological problems among adolescents. Conclusion: The 3-month rate of cyberbullying experience and observation among urban adolescents aged 11-14 was low. However, current coping strategies against cyberbullying were not sufficient. Family support is an important factor that should be considered for designing interventions to mitigating the impacts of cyberbullying on the mental health of adolescents.

Smartphone Use and Willingness to Pay for HIV Treatment-Assisted Smartphone Applications among HIV-Positive Patients in Urban Clinics of Vietnam.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-assisted smartphone applications in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was performed in two urban outpatient clinics in Hanoi from May to December 2019. A simple random sampling method and a structured questionnaire were used to recruit 495 eligible participants and to collect data. Multivariable modified Poisson regression and multivariable linear regression models were employed to investigate the factors associated with the willingness to pay (WTP) and amount of money patients were willing to pay. Approximately 82.8% of respondents were willing to pay for the hypothetical applications, with the mean amount the participants were willing to pay of Vietnam Dong (VND) 72,100/month. Marital status (separate/divorced/widow: Odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) = (1.09; 1.50) and having spouse/partner: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = (1.03; 1.36)) and using health services (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = (1.01; 1.04)) were positively associated with nominating they would be WTP for the app, whereas the duration of antiretroviral treatment (ART) (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = (0.96; 0.99)) had a negative association. The frequency of using health services (ß = 0.04, 95% CI = (-0.07; -0.01)) was negatively associated with the amount of WTP. High levels of WTP revealed the feasibility of implementing smartphone-based apps for HIV treatment. This study implied the necessity to consider a co-payment system to reach populations who were in need but where such applications may be unaffordable in lieu of other treatment-associated expenses. Developers also need to pay attention to privacy features to attract single people living with HIV/AIDS and additional measures to initiate people with a long duration on ART into using the applications.

Global mapping of interventions to improve quality of life of patients with depression during 1990-2018.

PURPOSE: The number of patients with depressive disordered globally increased and affects people of all ages and countries and has a significant and negative impact on the quality of life (QoL). Depression if left untreated may lead to severe consequences. However, there are several types of effective treatments, but often patients need support from health staff to find suitable treatments. This study aims to examine the global trend of the publications as well as the development of interventions for depressing treatment. METHODS: We download and analyzed 15,976 scientific research from the Web of Science from 1990 to 2018. A text mining based on Latent Dirichlet and terms' co-occurrence in titles and abstracts to identify hidden research topics and research landscapes. RESULTS: We found that the number of papers related to non-pharmacological treatment (such as cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness, or family and social support) to improve the QoL of patients with depression has increased. The number of papers on this serious health issue in low-middle income countries (LMICs) was not as high as in high-income countries (HICs). CONCLUSION: It is necessary to increase support of the treatment of depression in LMICs as well as applied non-pharmacological interventions to patients with depression.

Global trends of hand and wrist trauma: a systematic analysis of fracture and digit amputation using the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study.

BACKGROUND: As global rates of mortality decrease, rates of non-fatal injury have increased, particularly in low Socio-demographic Index (SDI) nations. We hypothesised this global pattern of non-fatal injury would be demonstrated in regard to bony hand and wrist trauma over the 27-year study period. METHODS: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 was used to estimate prevalence, age-standardised incidence and years lived with disability for hand trauma in 195 countries from 1990 to 2017. Individual injuries included hand and wrist fractures, thumb amputations and non-thumb digit amputations. RESULTS: The global incidence of hand trauma has only modestly decreased since 1990. In 2017, the age-standardised incidence of hand and wrist fractures was 179 per 100 000 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 146 to 217), whereas the less common injuries of thumb and non-thumb digit amputation were 24 (95% UI 17 to 34) and 56 (95% UI 43 to 74) per 100 000, respectively. Rates of injury vary greatly by region, and improvements have not been equally distributed. The highest burden of hand trauma is currently reported in high SDI countries. However, low-middle and middle SDI countries have increasing rates of hand trauma by as much at 25%. CONCLUSIONS: Certain regions are noted to have high rates of hand trauma over the study period. Low-middle and middle SDI countries, however, have demonstrated increasing rates of fracture and amputation over the last 27 years. This trend is concerning as access to quality and subspecialised surgical hand care is often limiting in these resource-limited regions.

The burden of unintentional drowning: global, regional and national estimates of mortality from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study.

BACKGROUND: Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related mortality globally. Unintentional drowning (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes W65-74 and ICD9 E910) is one of the 30 mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive causes of injury-related mortality in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. This study's objective is to describe unintentional drowning using GBD estimates from 1990 to 2017. METHODS: Unintentional drowning from GBD 2017 was estimated for cause-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs), age, sex, country, region, Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile, and trends from 1990 to 2017. GBD 2017 used standard GBD methods for estimating mortality from drowning. RESULTS: Globally, unintentional drowning mortality decreased by 44.5% between 1990 and 2017, from 531 956 (uncertainty interval (UI): 484 107 to 572 854) to 295 210 (284 493 to 306 187) deaths. Global age-standardised mortality rates decreased 57.4%, from 9.3 (8.5 to 10.0) in 1990 to 4.0 (3.8 to 4.1) per 100 000 per annum in 2017. Unintentional drowning-associated mortality was generally higher in children, males and in low-SDI to middle-SDI countries. China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh accounted for 51.2% of all drowning deaths in 2017. Oceania was the region with the highest rate of age-standardised YLLs in 2017, with 45 434 (40 850 to 50 539) YLLs per 100 000 across both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a decline in global drowning rates. This study shows that the decline was not consistent across countries. The results reinforce the need for continued and improved policy, prevention and research efforts, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

Epidemiology of injuries from fire, heat and hot substances: global, regional and national morbidity and mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study.

BACKGROUND: Past research has shown how fires, heat and hot substances are important causes of health loss globally. Detailed estimates of the morbidity and mortality from these injuries could help drive preventative measures and improved access to care. METHODS: We used the Global Burden of Disease 2017 framework to produce three main results. First, we produced results on incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, deaths, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life years from 1990 to 2017 for 195 countries and territories. Second, we analysed these results to measure mortality-to-incidence ratios by location. Third, we reported the measures above in terms of the cause of fire, heat and hot substances and the types of bodily injuries that result. RESULTS: Globally, there were 8 991 468 (7 481 218 to 10 740 897) new fire, heat and hot substance injuries in 2017 with 120 632 (101 630 to 129 383) deaths. At the global level, the age-standardised mortality caused by fire, heat and hot substances significantly declined from 1990 to 2017, but regionally there was variability in age-standardised incidence with some regions experiencing an increase (eg, Southern Latin America) and others experiencing a significant decrease (eg, High-income North America). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence and mortality of injuries that result from fire, heat and hot substances affect every region of the world but are most concentrated in middle and lower income areas. More resources should be invested in measuring these injuries as well as in improving infrastructure, advancing safety measures and ensuring access to care.

Modeling Research Topics for Artificial Intelligence Applications in Medicine: Latent Dirichlet Allocation Application Study.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies develop rapidly and have myriad applications in medicine and health care. However, there is a lack of comprehensive reporting on the productivity, workflow, topics, and research landscape of AI in this field. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the global development of scientific publications and constructed interdisciplinary research topics on the theory and practice of AI in medicine from 1977 to 2018. METHODS: We obtained bibliographic data and abstract contents of publications published between 1977 and 2018 from the Web of Science database. A total of 27,451 eligible articles were analyzed. Research topics were classified by latent Dirichlet allocation, and principal component analysis was used to identify the construct of the research landscape. RESULTS: The applications of AI have mainly impacted clinical settings (enhanced prognosis and diagnosis, robot-assisted surgery, and rehabilitation), data science and precision medicine (collecting individual data for precision medicine), and policy making (raising ethical and legal issues, especially regarding privacy and confidentiality of data). However, AI applications have not been commonly used in resource-poor settings due to the limit in infrastructure and human resources. CONCLUSIONS: The application of AI in medicine has grown rapidly and focuses on three leading platforms: clinical practices, clinical material, and policies. AI might be one of the methods to narrow down the inequality in health care and medicine between developing and developed countries. Technology transfer and support from developed countries are essential measures for the advancement of AI application in health care in developing countries.