Publishing Trends in the Field of School-Based Health From 2014 to 2024: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Abstract

School-based health interventions have been shown to significantly improve pediatric health outcomes. This study aims to analyze trends in research published on school-based health between 2014 and 2024. A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed. Data points abstracted from each article included publication details, study details, and research study topics.  A total of 953 publications were analyzed. A peak in annual publications was apparent in 2018-2019, followed by a decline. Nine- to 13-year-olds were the most studied population (50.9%). The most commonly assigned research topics were physical activity and nutrition (36%), health promotion (25%), mental health (19%), obesity (15%), and substance use (12%). Research in the field of school-based health has evolved, but the overall annual number of publications is declining. Still, published data reveals that most school-based health studies have positive outcomes on the health of our pediatric population. These results underscore the need for continued research, particularly in underrepresented areas such as school-based health centers, telemedicine, minority youth, students with disabilities, and interventions targeting reproductive health, violence prevention, and socioeconomic disparities.