Shifts in the use of population health, health promotion, and public health: a bibliometric analysis.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Bibliometric analysis can be used to objectively compare the usage of terms over time. The purpose of this research was to compare the use of population health, health promotion, and public health using bibliometric indicators of the published literature. METHODS: Bibliometric indicators, such as scientific productivity and the overlap between the terms, were analyzed in the Web of Science. Indexing of population health, health promotion, and public health was explored in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE. RESULTS: The most productive country in population health was Canada, while the most productive country in health promotion and public health was the United States. The number of published articles using the public health term was surpassed by health promotion around 1990. Both were surpassed by population health around 2000. Population health was the only concept which lacked an index term in all three databases. DISCUSSION: There has been a shift in the usage of public health, health promotion, and population health concepts over time. Country analysis revealed that Canadian researchers are leaders in population health, while researchers based in the United States are leaders in public health and health promotion. This may indicate differences rooted in the social, historical and economic traditions. Although the publication rate of articles described as 'population health' research is increasing, it is lacking an index term across major electronic databases. We suggest that without timely acceptance of terms, new concepts that represent different ways of thinking about health may be limited, delayed or glossed over.