Publishing trends in the field of urgent care medicine from 2000 to 2020: A bibliometric analysis

Background: With a steady rise in the number of urgent care centers in the United States and the establishment of urgent care medicine as a specialty, research in the field is likely to emerge.

Objectives: To perform a bibliometric analysis of published studies in the field of urgent care medicine over the past two decades.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted, including original and review articles pertaining to urgent care medicine published 2000-2020. Data abstracted from each article included publication year, journal, research study design, study population, clinical relevance (clinical or non-clinical), and study topics.

Results: A total of 144 publications from 94 peer-reviewed journals were analyzed. There has been a steady increase in the annual number of publications from 2010 to 2019. The most common study designs were retrospective (55.5%), study specific (24.3%), prospective (15.3%), and quality improvement (4.9%). Adults were the most frequently identified study population (33.3%), followed by pediatrics (18%), and both adults and pediatrics (16.7%). Publications were categorized as clinical (48.6%) and non-clinical (51.4%). The most common research topics were urgent care utilization [n = 34, 23.6%; especially effectiveness (n = 9) and disease based (n = 7)], diagnostic testing [(n = 20, 13.9%; especially HIV (n = 7) and sexually transmitted infections (n = 6)], and antibiotic stewardship (n = 17, 11.8%).

Conclusion: Based on our sample, published research in the field of urgent care medicine has evolved. By describing current trends, we hope that clinicians and researchers continue to advance the field by developing high quality research, including prospective, multi-institutional/center studies involving both clinical and non-clinical topics.