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Developmental disabilities in Africa: A scientometric review
Ist Teil von
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023-02, Vol.133, p.104395-104395, Article 104395
Ort / Verlag
United States: Elsevier Ltd
Erscheinungsjahr
2023
Quelle
MEDLINE
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Developmental disabilities are disproportionately more investigated in higher-income countries. However, global prevalence of developmental disabilities indicate that a large proportion of individuals with disabilities reside in low- and middle-income nations.
The present work therefore aims to conduct a scientometric review to survey available literature on developmental disabilities in low- and middle-income countries belonging to the continent of Africa.
A literature search was conducted on Scopus, where a total of 1720 relevant publications (and an accompanying 66 thousand references) were found, representing research conducted between 1950 to 2022. Then, document co-citation analysis was performed to chart significant co-citation relationships between relevant articles and their cited references.
The generated network based on document co-citation analysis revealed a total of 14 distinct thematic research clusters and 12 significant documents that have been frequently cited in the literature on developmental disabilities in Africa.
The scientometric review revealed a trend of broadening research towards systems of care, away from a medical model of disease. It is projected that future research will continue to capitalise on inter-disciplinary strengths to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of developmental disability from all levels – individuals, families, to communities.
•Research on developmental disabilities is mostly conducted in high-income countries.•Scientometrics was used to review 70+ years of research on developmental disabilities in Africa.•It emerged that research shifted from biomedical to biopsychosocial models of disability.