Few studies have been conducted on the analysis of outcome indicators related to public health research work, as conducted in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. These indicators can help policy decision makers, researchers and managers, among others, to improve existing research lines, design public health programmes, and allocate resources accordingly. The purpose of this work is to present the results of a research in progress on the patterns of scientific communication on public health research work in LAC, as found from the documents published in the field and retrieved from international bibliographic databases.  Method. A bibliometric approach was used to identify the documents indexed under public health and the LAC, for the period 1980-2005, both in LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in the Health Sciences) and MEDLINE. A selection of the top eight countries with major production was identified. Data was further analysed to establish the type of documents produced, authorship, language of publication, and the subject content of the production. For the purpose of this paper only the articles published in scientific journals were analysed so as to compare the database coverage; i.e., local or mainstream visibility of the production on public health research work in LAC. Bibexcell 2001 and Refworks2005 were used to establish data rank distributions and clusters linked to a particular subject content, institutional affiliation, language of publication and authorship. Results. The paper presents the results of this analysis and the implications derived from the study

Gutiérrez-Carrasco, A.

Juárez-Sánchez, E.

Macías-Chapula, C.A.

Mendoza-Guerrero, J.A.

Rodea-Castro, I.P.

English

E-Lis: Research in Computing and Library and Information Science

 1 
PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH WORK IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE 
CARIBBEAN: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE 
(1980-2005) 
 
Macías-Chapula C.A.; Mendoza-Guerrero J.A.; Rodea-Castro, I.P.;  
Gutiérrez-Carrasco A.; Juárez-Sánchez, E. 
 
cesarmch@liceaga.facmed,unam.mx 
Hospital General de México, Research Division. Information Science Programme. 
Algeciras 43 A, Col. Insurgentes Mixcoac, Delegación Benito Juárez, 03920 México D.F (México) 
 
 
 
Abstract: Few studies have been conducted on the analysis of outcome indicators related to 
public health research work, as conducted in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. 
These indicators can help policy decision makers, researchers and managers, among others, to 
improve existing research lines, design public health programmes, and allocate resources 
accordingly. The purpose of this work is to present the results of a research in progress on the 
patterns of scientific communication on public health research work in LAC, as found from the 
documents published in the field and retrieved from international bibliographic databases.  
Method. A bibliometric approach was used to identify the documents indexed under public 
health and the LAC, for the period 1980-2005, both in LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean 
Literature in the Health Sciences) and MEDLINE. A selection of the top eight countries with 
major production was identified. Data was further analysed to establish the type of documents 
produced, authorship, language of publication, and the subject content of the production. For the 
purpose of this paper only the articles published in scientific journals were analysed so as to 
compare the database coverage; i.e., local or mainstream visibility of the production on public 
health research work in LAC. Bibexcell 2001 and Refworks2005 were used to establish data rank 
distributions and clusters linked to a particular subject content, institutional affiliation, language 
of publication and authorship. Results. The paper presents the results of this analysis and the 
implications derived from the study.  
  
 
 
1. Introduction 
 
 In the last two decades, multiple health care reforms have emerged in the LAC regions 
(Macías-Chapula, 2002; Gonzalez-Garcia, 2001). In these countries, new tools and managerial 
models have been developed and applied. Most health care researchers and managers in these 
countries however, are not aware of the results derived from public health research interventions, 
both at the national and international levels. No information exists regarding for example, public 
health research lines; benchmarking; visibility of research results; or impact on public health 
programmes. Clearly, less information exists on the relationship between public health research 
and interventions leading to social change and improvement of well-being (Macías-Chapula et al, 
2005). Few studies have been conducted on the analysis of outcome indicators related to public 
health research work, as conducted in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. These 
indicators can help policy decision makers, researchers and managers, among others, to improve 
Poster contribution in: 11 Congress on Public Health and 8th Brazilian Congress on Collective Health. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 
21-25, 2006. 
 2 
existing research lines, design public health programmes, and allocate resources accordingly 
(Macías-Chapula, 2005; Almeida-Fihlo, 2003; White, 2002; Lancet, 2004; WHO, 1999; 
Pellegrini, 1997; Frenk, 1986). 
 
2. Purpose 
 
 The purpose of this work is to present the results of a research in progress on the patterns 
of scientific communication on public health research work in LAC, as found from the 
documents published in the field and retrieved from international bibliographic databases.  
 
3. Method 
 
 A bibliometric approach was used to identify the documents indexed under public health 
and any country of the LAC regions, for the period 1980-2005. A literature search was 
conducted, both in LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in the Health Sciences) 
and MEDLINE. A selection of eight leading countries with major production was obtained. 
These countries were the following: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Peru and 
Venezuela. Data was further analysed to establish the type of documents produced, authorship, 
language of publication, and the subject content of the production. For the purpose of this paper 
only the articles published in scientific journals were analysed so as to compare the database 
coverage; i.e., local or mainstream visibility of the production. Bibexcell 2001 and Refworks 
2005 were used to establish data rank distributions.  
 
4. Results  
 
4.1 Production  
 
 A total of 93, 374 journal articles were found in both databases LILACS (65, 759) and 
MEDLINE (27, 615). The distribution of this production is described in Table 1. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Country MEDLINE % LILACS-SP* %
Brazil 10,887 39.42 28,504 43.35
Mexico 6,988 25.31 6,055 9.21
Chile 2,596 9.40 7,536 11.46
Argentina 2,244 8.13 8,265 12.57
Colom bia 1,358 4.92 3,619 5.50
Cuba 1,345 4.87 3,998 6.08
Peru 1,150 4.16 2,610 3.97
Venezuela 1,047 3.79 5,172 7.87
Total 27,615 100 65,759 100
*LILACS-SP = Latin Am erican and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health dom ain.
Table 1. Public Health research w ork in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
Distribution of journal articles published by country and database used 
(MEDLINE and LILCAS-SP; 1980-2005).
 3 
4.2 Authorship 
 
 Collaboration was more visible in MEDLINE (85.04%) than in LILACS-SP (59.89%). 
This pattern may reflect the fact that public health research results are more likely to be 
disseminated in the international literature if they are derived from the collaboration of two or 
more researchers. It also illustrates the high tendency of single researchers to publish their results 
in local or regional sources, as found in LILACS-SP. Table 2, describes the distribution found by 
authorship in both databases. 
 
 
 
 
4.3 Language 
 
 English was the main language used in MEDLINE (62.64%); and Spanish in LILACS-SP 
(55.58%). While Portuguese was the second language used in LILACS-SP (38.21%); this 
language however was less visible (13.05%) than Spanish (23.15%), in MEDLINE. Other 
languages like French, German and Russian were less significant in MEDLINE (1.16%). 
 
 
4.4 Subject content 
  
 Due to the high proportion of productivity of Brazil (39.42%) as compared with the other 
LAC countries, the subject content of Brazil was analysed separately. In this country, public 
health research outcome was mainly related to papers discussing aspects of Prevalence; 
Socioeconomic Factors and Risk Factors in MEDLINE. In LILACS-SP, the subject content was 
highly related to Health Policy. Tables 3 and 4, provide a rank distribution of the main Medical 
Subject Headings found in each database, accordingly. 
 
 
 
 
Country 
MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SP
Brazil 12,68 36,22 59,72 57,00 25,31 6,17 2,29 0,61
Mexico 16,41 39,17 53,71 51,80 26,01 8,24 3,86 0,79
Chile 12,89 46,95 57,46 44,21 27,76 7,83 1,89 1,01
Argentina 3,39 52,06 40,92 41,68 45,71 5,88 9,98 0,38
Colombia 23,36 29,06 50,97 35,01 21,42 17,51 4,25 18,42
Cuba 23,01 25,61 57,70 67,67 17,59 6,61 1,70 0,10
Peru 19,46 59,51 45,58 36,72 30,49 3,43 4,47 0,34
Venezuela 12,95 35,43 54,38 53,10 30,28 10,45 2,39 1,02
Total 14,96 40,11 56,07 52,46 25,93 6,66 3,03 0,77
*LILACS-SP = Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health domain.
Distribution by  authorship and database  (MEDLINE and LILACS-SP*; 1980-2005).
Table 2. Public Health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
1 Author 2-5 Authors 6-10 Authors 11 + Authors 
 4 
 
 
 
 
r* M e S H F re q u e n c y 
1 H e a lth  P o lic y  1 ,1 2 5
2 H e a lth  E d u c a t io n  8 3 4
3 R is k  F a c to rs 8 2 0
4 S o c ie c o n o m ic  F a c to rs  8 2 0
5 N u rs in g  7 1 3
6 P u b lic  H e a lth  6 6 7
7 H e a lth  S e rv ic e s  6 1 5
8 N u rs in g  C a re 6 1 3
9 M e n ta l H e a lth  5 7 2
1 0 H e a lth  S ya s te m 5 6 7
1 1 Q u e s tio n n a ire s  5 2 2
1 2 N a t io n a l H e a lth  S ys te m  4 9 6
1 3 C o n s u m e r P a rt ic ip a t io n 4 9 4
1 4 E p id e m io lo g ic  S u rv e illa n c e  4 9 4
1 5 O c c u p a t io n a l H e a lth 4 9 2
1 6 P u b lic  P o lic y  4 9 1
1 7 B re a s t F e e d in g 4 8 7
1 8 R e s e a rc h  4 6 5
1 9 C o n g re s s  4 6 3
2 0 R e tro s p e c tive  S tu d ie s  4 3 4
* ra n k 1 -2 4 6
T o ta l 1 8 0 .6 5 9
M e S H  =  M e d ic a l S u b je c t  H e a d in g s
T a b le  4 . P u b lic  H e a lth  re s e a rc h  w o rk  in  L a tin  A m e r ic a  a n d  th e  C a r ib b e a n . 
S u b je c t c o n te n t d is tr ib u tio n  o f th e  l ite ra tu re , a c c o rd in g  to  th e  fre q u e n c y 
fo u n d  o f M e d ic a l S u b je c t H e a d in g s  in  B ra z il (L IL A C S -S P , 1 9 8 0 -2 0 0 5 ).
r * M e S H  F re q u e n c y 
1 P re v a le n c e 1 .6 7 8
2 S o c io e c o n o m ic  F a c to rs 1 ,5 0 1
3 R is k  F a c to rs 1 .3 9 1
4 C ro s s -S e c t io n a l S tu d ie s 8 6 1
5 S e x  F a c to rs 7 9 3
6 S o u th  A m e ric a 7 6 7
7 U rb a n  P o p u la t io n 7 5 4
8 Q u e s t io n n a ire s 7 2 6
9 In c id e n c e 6 9 7
1 0 R e tro s p e c t iv e  S tu d ie s 6 7 8
1 1 D e v e lo p in g  C o u n tr ie s 5 8 0
1 2 T im e  F a c to rs 5 1 5
1 3 A g e  D is tr ib u t io n 4 7 4
1 4 D e m o g ra p h y 4 6 7
1 5 P ro s p e c t iv e  S tu d ie s 4 2 7
1 6 L a t in  A m e r ic a 4 1 1
1 7 A m e ric a s 3 9 9
1 8 S e x  D is t r ib u t io n 3 9 5
1 9 F o llo w -U p  S tu d ie s 3 8 6
2 0 S e a s o n s 3 8 1
* ra n k 1 -1 8 9
T o ta l 1 0 9 .9 1 6
M e S H  =  M e d ic a l S u b je c t H e a d in g s
T a b le  3 . P u b lic  h e a lth  re s e a rc h  w o rk  in  L a t in  A m e ric a  a n d  th e  C a r ib b e a n . 
S u b je c t  c o n te n t  d is tr ib u t io n  o f  th e  li te ra tu re ,  a c c o rd in g  to  th e  fre q u e n c y 
fo u n d  o f  M e d ic a l S u b je c t  H e a d in g s  in  B ra z il  (M E D L IN E , 1 9 8 0 -2 0 0 5 ) .
 5 
 
 The remaining countries, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Peru and 
Venezuela, were analysed according to the rank distribution of the Medical Subject Headings, as 
found in Mexico. The reason being the leading role of Mexico in the amount of papers published. 
The analysis of these data illustrates both similarities and discrepancies in the varying fields of 
interest of each country. This pattern applied for both databases MEDLINE and LILACS-SP. The 
main areas of interest for example of Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela, were related to 
Risk Factors and Prevalence in MEDLINE; while Colombia, Cuba and Peru interest was in 
Developing Countries and United States. Table 5, describes the rank distribution of descriptors in 
MEDLINE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Since Argentina was the leading country in the amount of papers published, as found in 
LILACS-SP, the same approach was used to identify the rank distribution of descriptors by 
country, as mapped against the rank distribution of this country. The analysis of data provided the 
following results: Risk Factors was the leading descriptor (r1) in all countries with the exception 
MeSH/r* Mexico Chile Argentina Colombia Cuba Peru Venezuela 
Risk Factors 1 2 2 6 5 5 2
Prevalence 2 1 1 10 6 2 1
Socioeconomic Factors 3 4 14 8 11 6 7
Developing Countries 4 8 8 1 3 1 4
Age Factors 5 3 5 9 4 8 3
Demography 6 12 6 5 7 7 5
Latin America 7 11 13 2 6 3 6
North America 8 59 69 43 9 44 45
Americas 9 15 15 4 10 4 10
Cross-Sectional Studies 10 13 20 12 30 11 11
United States 11 44 47 37 1 43 40
Questionnaires 12 22 23 13 23 16 30
Population 13 19 16 7 11 9 13
Sex Factors 14 5 15 18 12 25 11
Population Dynamics 15 6 7 11 11 13 12
Retrospective Studies 16 7 3 26 18 16 14
Hispanic Americans 17 78 83 65 15 4 53
Incidence 18 9 4 20 14 10 9
Emigration and Immigration 19 44 22 25 8 31 22
Urban Population 20 21 19 16 34 16 16
*rank 1-155 1-78 1-83 1-69 1-62 1-62 1-53
Total MeSH 72.307 25.219 24.386 15.624 13.000 13.290 10.741
MeSH = Medical Subject Headings
Table 5. Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
Rank distribution of Medical Subject Headings, according to the production of Mexico 
 (MEDLINE, 1980-2005).
 6 
of Venezuela and Peru, where this descriptor ranked 7 and 2, respectively. Table 6, describes the 
subject content found, according to the countries analysed in LILACS-SP. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Data analysis of check-tags used in all eight countries did not show any significant 
findings. Both databases provided an even distribution of check-tags. Results indicated that most 
of the research was related to Human, Female, Male, Adult, and Adolescent. Less frequently the 
studies were related to Infant, Newborn and Pregnancy. Table 7, provides this distribution. 
 
MeSH/r* Argentina Chile Mexico Venezuela Cuba Colombia Peru 
Risk Factors 1 1 1 7 1 1 2
Pediatrics 2 27 52 3 46 28 31
Prespective Studies 3 5 37 48 6 31 5
Congress 4 9 47 35 49 17 50
Primary Health Care 5 7 63 33 2 15 18
Dentists 6 76 72 60 54 16 51
Physicians 7 60 39 37 48 28 12
Socioeconomic Factors 8 2 12 5 22 3 22
Research 9 14 5 20 55 4 15
Ethics, Medical 10 5 23 50 43 12 48
Quality Control 11 59 32 25 54 23 34
Treatment Outcome 11 34 19 42 55 32 52
Quality of Life 12 11 41 31 19 18 28
Prospective Studies 13 8 24 61 53 29 16
Infant Mortality 14 19 26 39 8 17 7
Physician-Patient Relations 15 16 28 56 29 27 53
Follow-Up Studies 16 20 67 58 39 26 46
Neoplasms 17 72 52 48 35 28 21
Quality of Health Care 18 74 22 62 38 20 23
Liability, Legal 19 51 56 62 54 32 52
Health Policy 20 24 11 48 46 18 48
*rank 1-215 1-84 1-75 1-64 1-55 1-34 1-53
Total MeSH 45.031 40.696 28.041 21.140 14.228 12.301 12.130
MeSH = Medical Subject Headings
 (LILACS-SP, 1980-2005).
Rank distribution of Medical Subject Headings, according to the production of Argentina
Table 6. Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
 7 
 
 
 
5. Conclusion and discussion 
 
 The outcome of public health research work in the LAC regions is significant. Nearly half 
of the production corresponds to publications disseminated in the mainstream literature, as 
indexed in MEDLINE. Collaboration seems to have an impact in the visibility of papers, as found 
in MEDLINE. On the other hand, there remains a visible pattern to work and publish as a single 
author in local and regional papers, as found in LILACS-SP. English, Spanish and Portuguese 
were the main languages used in the LAC regions when publishing their results. This was found 
in both databases. These preliminary results provided data to continue this line of research so as 
to analyse for example, the subject content distribution of the literature over time and to identify 
clusters of emergence in the field.  
 
6. References  
 
1. Macías-Chapula, C.A. Hacia un modelo de comunicación en salud pública en América Latina 
y el Caribe. Rev. Panam Salud Publica. 2005; 18(6):427-438. 
2. Macías-Chapula, C.A. Bibliometric and webometric analysis of heath system reforms in Latin 
America and the Caribbean.  Scientometrics. 2002; 53(3):407-427. 
3. Almeida-Filho, N; Kawachi, I.; Filho, AP; Dachs, JN. Research on health inequalities in Latin 
America and the Caribbean:  bibliometric analysis (1971-2000) and descriptive content  analysis 
(1971-1995). Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2003;  93(12):2037-43. 
4. White, F. Capacity-building for health research in developing countries: a manager’s approach. 
Rev Panam Salud Publica.  2002; 12(3)165-171. 
Check-Tags/ r*
M L M L M L M L M L M L M L M L
Human 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Female 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Male 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Adult 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 4 5 4 4
Adolescent 5 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 6 7 5 5 5 6 5 6
Middle Age 6 7 6 6 6 7 5 5 7 9 6 6 6 13 6 5
Child 7 5 8 5 7 6 8 8 8 5 7 7 7 4 7 8
Animal 8 8 4 12 12 13 10 13 5 11 8 13 8 15 8 14
Child, Preschool 9 9 11 9 11 11 11 9 9 8 11 10 10 7 9 10
Age 10 10 9 8 8 9 9 7 10 13 10 8 11 14 12 7
Infant 11 10 12 11 10 8 12 11 12 10 12 9 12 9 10 12
Comparative Study 12 12 10 13 9 14 7 10 11 4 9 14 9 10 11 9
Infant, Newborn 13 11 13 10 13 10 13 12 13 14 13 11 13 11 13 11
Pregnancy 14 13 15 14 14 12 14 14 15 12 14 12 14 8 14 13
* rank 1-31 1-24 1-23 1-231-34 1-32 1-32 1-26
Venezuela Cuba Colombia Peru
LILACS-SP = Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health domain.
                                                                         M= Medline                                                      L=LILACS-SP
Table 7. Public Health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
Subject content distribution by Check-Tags  and databases
(MEDLINE and LILACS-SP; 1980-2005).
Brazil Agentina Chile Mexico 
 8 
5. Lancet Editorial.  Mexico, 2004: Global health needs a new research agenda. The Lancet. 
2004; 364(9445):1555-1556. 
6. Global Forum on Health Research. The 10/90 report on health research 1999. Geneve: World 
Health Organisation, 1999. 
7. Pellegrini Filho A, Goldbaum M, Silvi J. Production of scientific articles about health in six 
Latin American countries, 1973- 1992. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 1997; 1(1):23-24. 
8. Frenk J, Bobadilla J.L, Sepúlveda J, Recental J, Rúelas E.  Un modelo conceptual para la 
investigación en salud pública.  Bol Of Sanit Panam. 1986; 101(5):477-489 
9. Gonzalez Garcia, G. Health reforms and the managerial models. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 
2001; 9(6):406-412. 
10. Macías-Chapula C.A.; Rodea-Castro I.P.; Mendoza-Guerrero J.A.; Gutiérrez-Carrasco, A. 
Visualization of knowledge  production on public health research work in Latin America and the 
Caribbean. 10th International Conference of the  International Society for Scientometrics and 
Informetrics ISSI. Stockholm: Karolinska University Press, 2005. 
 
 
 
 


Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean: A bibliometric analysis of the literature (1980-2005)

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E-LIS

 1 PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH WORK IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE (1980-2005)  Macías-Chapula C.A.; Mendoza-Guerrero J.A.; Rodea-Castro, I.P.;  Gutiérrez-Carrasco A.; Juárez-Sánchez, E.  cesarmch@liceaga.facmed,unam.mx Hospital General de México, Research Division. Information Science Programme. Algeciras 43 A, Col. Insurgentes Mixcoac, Delegación Benito Juárez, 03920 México D.F (México)    Abstract: Few studies have been conducted on the analysis of outcome indicators related to public health research work, as conducted in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. These indicators can help policy decision makers, researchers and managers, among others, to improve existing research lines, design public health programmes, and allocate resources accordingly. The purpose of this work is to present the results of a research in progress on the patterns of scientific communication on public health research work in LAC, as found from the documents published in the field and retrieved from international bibliographic databases.  Method. A bibliometric approach was used to identify the documents indexed under public health and the LAC, for the period 1980-2005, both in LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in the Health Sciences) and MEDLINE. A selection of the top eight countries with major production was identified. Data was further analysed to establish the type of documents produced, authorship, language of publication, and the subject content of the production. For the purpose of this paper only the articles published in scientific journals were analysed so as to compare the database coverage; i.e., local or mainstream visibility of the production on public health research work in LAC. Bibexcell 2001 and Refworks2005 were used to establish data rank distributions and clusters linked to a particular subject content, institutional affiliation, language of publication and authorship. Results. The paper presents the results of this analysis and the implications derived from the study.      1. Introduction   In the last two decades, multiple health care reforms have emerged in the LAC regions (Macías-Chapula, 2002; Gonzalez-Garcia, 2001). In these countries, new tools and managerial models have been developed and applied. Most health care researchers and managers in these countries however, are not aware of the results derived from public health research interventions, both at the national and international levels. No information exists regarding for example, public health research lines; benchmarking; visibility of research results; or impact on public health programmes. Clearly, less information exists on the relationship between public health research and interventions leading to social change and improvement of well-being (Macías-Chapula et al, 2005). Few studies have been conducted on the analysis of outcome indicators related to public health research work, as conducted in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. These indicators can help policy decision makers, researchers and managers, among others, to improve Poster contribution in: 11 Congress on Public Health and 8th Brazilian Congress on Collective Health. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 21-25, 2006.  2 existing research lines, design public health programmes, and allocate resources accordingly (Macías-Chapula, 2005; Almeida-Fihlo, 2003; White, 2002; Lancet, 2004; WHO, 1999; Pellegrini, 1997; Frenk, 1986).  2. Purpose   The purpose of this work is to present the results of a research in progress on the patterns of scientific communication on public health research work in LAC, as found from the documents published in the field and retrieved from international bibliographic databases.   3. Method   A bibliometric approach was used to identify the documents indexed under public health and any country of the LAC regions, for the period 1980-2005. A literature search was conducted, both in LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in the Health Sciences) and MEDLINE. A selection of eight leading countries with major production was obtained. These countries were the following: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Peru and Venezuela. Data was further analysed to establish the type of documents produced, authorship, language of publication, and the subject content of the production. For the purpose of this paper only the articles published in scientific journals were analysed so as to compare the database coverage; i.e., local or mainstream visibility of the production. Bibexcell 2001 and Refworks 2005 were used to establish data rank distributions.   4. Results   4.1 Production    A total of 93, 374 journal articles were found in both databases LILACS (65, 759) and MEDLINE (27, 615). The distribution of this production is described in Table 1.        Country MEDLINE % LILACS-SP* %Brazil 10,887 39.42 28,504 43.35Mexico 6,988 25.31 6,055 9.21Chile 2,596 9.40 7,536 11.46Argentina 2,244 8.13 8,265 12.57Colom bia 1,358 4.92 3,619 5.50Cuba 1,345 4.87 3,998 6.08Peru 1,150 4.16 2,610 3.97Venezuela 1,047 3.79 5,172 7.87Total 27,615 100 65,759 100*LILACS-SP = Latin Am erican and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health dom ain.Table 1. Public Health research w ork in Latin America and the Caribbean. Distribution of journal articles published by country and database used (MEDLINE and LILCAS-SP; 1980-2005). 3 4.2 Authorship   Collaboration was more visible in MEDLINE (85.04%) than in LILACS-SP (59.89%). This pattern may reflect the fact that public health research results are more likely to be disseminated in the international literature if they are derived from the collaboration of two or more researchers. It also illustrates the high tendency of single researchers to publish their results in local or regional sources, as found in LILACS-SP. Table 2, describes the distribution found by authorship in both databases.     4.3 Language   English was the main language used in MEDLINE (62.64%); and Spanish in LILACS-SP (55.58%). While Portuguese was the second language used in LILACS-SP (38.21%); this language however was less visible (13.05%) than Spanish (23.15%), in MEDLINE. Other languages like French, German and Russian were less significant in MEDLINE (1.16%).   4.4 Subject content    Due to the high proportion of productivity of Brazil (39.42%) as compared with the other LAC countries, the subject content of Brazil was analysed separately. In this country, public health research outcome was mainly related to papers discussing aspects of Prevalence; Socioeconomic Factors and Risk Factors in MEDLINE. In LILACS-SP, the subject content was highly related to Health Policy. Tables 3 and 4, provide a rank distribution of the main Medical Subject Headings found in each database, accordingly.     Country MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SP MEDLINE LlILACS-SPBrazil 12,68 36,22 59,72 57,00 25,31 6,17 2,29 0,61Mexico 16,41 39,17 53,71 51,80 26,01 8,24 3,86 0,79Chile 12,89 46,95 57,46 44,21 27,76 7,83 1,89 1,01Argentina 3,39 52,06 40,92 41,68 45,71 5,88 9,98 0,38Colombia 23,36 29,06 50,97 35,01 21,42 17,51 4,25 18,42Cuba 23,01 25,61 57,70 67,67 17,59 6,61 1,70 0,10Peru 19,46 59,51 45,58 36,72 30,49 3,43 4,47 0,34Venezuela 12,95 35,43 54,38 53,10 30,28 10,45 2,39 1,02Total 14,96 40,11 56,07 52,46 25,93 6,66 3,03 0,77*LILACS-SP = Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health domain.Distribution by  authorship and database  (MEDLINE and LILACS-SP*; 1980-2005).Table 2. Public Health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 1 Author 2-5 Authors 6-10 Authors 11 + Authors  4     r* M e S H F re q u e n c y 1 H e a lth  P o lic y  1 ,1 2 52 H e a lth  E d u c a t io n  8 3 43 R is k  F a c to rs 8 2 04 S o c ie c o n o m ic  F a c to rs  8 2 05 N u rs in g  7 1 36 P u b lic  H e a lth  6 6 77 H e a lth  S e rv ic e s  6 1 58 N u rs in g  C a re 6 1 39 M e n ta l H e a lth  5 7 21 0 H e a lth  S ya s te m 5 6 71 1 Q u e s tio n n a ire s  5 2 21 2 N a t io n a l H e a lth  S ys te m  4 9 61 3 C o n s u m e r P a rt ic ip a t io n 4 9 41 4 E p id e m io lo g ic  S u rv e illa n c e  4 9 41 5 O c c u p a t io n a l H e a lth 4 9 21 6 P u b lic  P o lic y  4 9 11 7 B re a s t F e e d in g 4 8 71 8 R e s e a rc h  4 6 51 9 C o n g re s s  4 6 32 0 R e tro s p e c tive  S tu d ie s  4 3 4* ra n k 1 -2 4 6T o ta l 1 8 0 .6 5 9M e S H  =  M e d ic a l S u b je c t  H e a d in g sT a b le  4 . P u b lic  H e a lth  re s e a rc h  w o rk  in  L a tin  A m e r ic a  a n d  th e  C a r ib b e a n . S u b je c t c o n te n t d is tr ib u tio n  o f th e  l ite ra tu re , a c c o rd in g  to  th e  fre q u e n c y fo u n d  o f M e d ic a l S u b je c t H e a d in g s  in  B ra z il (L IL A C S -S P , 1 9 8 0 -2 0 0 5 ).r * M e S H  F re q u e n c y 1 P re v a le n c e 1 .6 7 82 S o c io e c o n o m ic  F a c to rs 1 ,5 0 13 R is k  F a c to rs 1 .3 9 14 C ro s s -S e c t io n a l S tu d ie s 8 6 15 S e x  F a c to rs 7 9 36 S o u th  A m e ric a 7 6 77 U rb a n  P o p u la t io n 7 5 48 Q u e s t io n n a ire s 7 2 69 In c id e n c e 6 9 71 0 R e tro s p e c t iv e  S tu d ie s 6 7 81 1 D e v e lo p in g  C o u n tr ie s 5 8 01 2 T im e  F a c to rs 5 1 51 3 A g e  D is tr ib u t io n 4 7 41 4 D e m o g ra p h y 4 6 71 5 P ro s p e c t iv e  S tu d ie s 4 2 71 6 L a t in  A m e r ic a 4 1 11 7 A m e ric a s 3 9 91 8 S e x  D is t r ib u t io n 3 9 51 9 F o llo w -U p  S tu d ie s 3 8 62 0 S e a s o n s 3 8 1* ra n k 1 -1 8 9T o ta l 1 0 9 .9 1 6M e S H  =  M e d ic a l S u b je c t H e a d in g sT a b le  3 . P u b lic  h e a lth  re s e a rc h  w o rk  in  L a t in  A m e ric a  a n d  th e  C a r ib b e a n . S u b je c t  c o n te n t  d is tr ib u t io n  o f  th e  li te ra tu re ,  a c c o rd in g  to  th e  fre q u e n c y fo u n d  o f  M e d ic a l S u b je c t  H e a d in g s  in  B ra z il  (M E D L IN E , 1 9 8 0 -2 0 0 5 ) . 5   The remaining countries, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Peru and Venezuela, were analysed according to the rank distribution of the Medical Subject Headings, as found in Mexico. The reason being the leading role of Mexico in the amount of papers published. The analysis of these data illustrates both similarities and discrepancies in the varying fields of interest of each country. This pattern applied for both databases MEDLINE and LILACS-SP. The main areas of interest for example of Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela, were related to Risk Factors and Prevalence in MEDLINE; while Colombia, Cuba and Peru interest was in Developing Countries and United States. Table 5, describes the rank distribution of descriptors in MEDLINE.       Since Argentina was the leading country in the amount of papers published, as found in LILACS-SP, the same approach was used to identify the rank distribution of descriptors by country, as mapped against the rank distribution of this country. The analysis of data provided the following results: Risk Factors was the leading descriptor (r1) in all countries with the exception MeSH/r* Mexico Chile Argentina Colombia Cuba Peru Venezuela Risk Factors 1 2 2 6 5 5 2Prevalence 2 1 1 10 6 2 1Socioeconomic Factors 3 4 14 8 11 6 7Developing Countries 4 8 8 1 3 1 4Age Factors 5 3 5 9 4 8 3Demography 6 12 6 5 7 7 5Latin America 7 11 13 2 6 3 6North America 8 59 69 43 9 44 45Americas 9 15 15 4 10 4 10Cross-Sectional Studies 10 13 20 12 30 11 11United States 11 44 47 37 1 43 40Questionnaires 12 22 23 13 23 16 30Population 13 19 16 7 11 9 13Sex Factors 14 5 15 18 12 25 11Population Dynamics 15 6 7 11 11 13 12Retrospective Studies 16 7 3 26 18 16 14Hispanic Americans 17 78 83 65 15 4 53Incidence 18 9 4 20 14 10 9Emigration and Immigration 19 44 22 25 8 31 22Urban Population 20 21 19 16 34 16 16*rank 1-155 1-78 1-83 1-69 1-62 1-62 1-53Total MeSH 72.307 25.219 24.386 15.624 13.000 13.290 10.741MeSH = Medical Subject HeadingsTable 5. Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rank distribution of Medical Subject Headings, according to the production of Mexico  (MEDLINE, 1980-2005). 6 of Venezuela and Peru, where this descriptor ranked 7 and 2, respectively. Table 6, describes the subject content found, according to the countries analysed in LILACS-SP.       Data analysis of check-tags used in all eight countries did not show any significant findings. Both databases provided an even distribution of check-tags. Results indicated that most of the research was related to Human, Female, Male, Adult, and Adolescent. Less frequently the studies were related to Infant, Newborn and Pregnancy. Table 7, provides this distribution.  MeSH/r* Argentina Chile Mexico Venezuela Cuba Colombia Peru Risk Factors 1 1 1 7 1 1 2Pediatrics 2 27 52 3 46 28 31Prespective Studies 3 5 37 48 6 31 5Congress 4 9 47 35 49 17 50Primary Health Care 5 7 63 33 2 15 18Dentists 6 76 72 60 54 16 51Physicians 7 60 39 37 48 28 12Socioeconomic Factors 8 2 12 5 22 3 22Research 9 14 5 20 55 4 15Ethics, Medical 10 5 23 50 43 12 48Quality Control 11 59 32 25 54 23 34Treatment Outcome 11 34 19 42 55 32 52Quality of Life 12 11 41 31 19 18 28Prospective Studies 13 8 24 61 53 29 16Infant Mortality 14 19 26 39 8 17 7Physician-Patient Relations 15 16 28 56 29 27 53Follow-Up Studies 16 20 67 58 39 26 46Neoplasms 17 72 52 48 35 28 21Quality of Health Care 18 74 22 62 38 20 23Liability, Legal 19 51 56 62 54 32 52Health Policy 20 24 11 48 46 18 48*rank 1-215 1-84 1-75 1-64 1-55 1-34 1-53Total MeSH 45.031 40.696 28.041 21.140 14.228 12.301 12.130MeSH = Medical Subject Headings (LILACS-SP, 1980-2005).Rank distribution of Medical Subject Headings, according to the production of ArgentinaTable 6. Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean.  7    5. Conclusion and discussion   The outcome of public health research work in the LAC regions is significant. Nearly half of the production corresponds to publications disseminated in the mainstream literature, as indexed in MEDLINE. Collaboration seems to have an impact in the visibility of papers, as found in MEDLINE. On the other hand, there remains a visible pattern to work and publish as a single author in local and regional papers, as found in LILACS-SP. English, Spanish and Portuguese were the main languages used in the LAC regions when publishing their results. This was found in both databases. These preliminary results provided data to continue this line of research so as to analyse for example, the subject content distribution of the literature over time and to identify clusters of emergence in the field.   6. References   1. Macías-Chapula, C.A. Hacia un modelo de comunicación en salud pública en América Latina y el Caribe. Rev. Panam Salud Publica. 2005; 18(6):427-438. 2. Macías-Chapula, C.A. Bibliometric and webometric analysis of heath system reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Scientometrics. 2002; 53(3):407-427. 3. Almeida-Filho, N; Kawachi, I.; Filho, AP; Dachs, JN. Research on health inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean:  bibliometric analysis (1971-2000) and descriptive content  analysis (1971-1995). Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2003;  93(12):2037-43. 4. White, F. Capacity-building for health research in developing countries: a manager’s approach. Rev Panam Salud Publica.  2002; 12(3)165-171. Check-Tags/ r*M L M L M L M L M L M L M L M LHuman 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Female 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Male 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3Adult 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 4 5 4 4Adolescent 5 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 6 7 5 5 5 6 5 6Middle Age 6 7 6 6 6 7 5 5 7 9 6 6 6 13 6 5Child 7 5 8 5 7 6 8 8 8 5 7 7 7 4 7 8Animal 8 8 4 12 12 13 10 13 5 11 8 13 8 15 8 14Child, Preschool 9 9 11 9 11 11 11 9 9 8 11 10 10 7 9 10Age 10 10 9 8 8 9 9 7 10 13 10 8 11 14 12 7Infant 11 10 12 11 10 8 12 11 12 10 12 9 12 9 10 12Comparative Study 12 12 10 13 9 14 7 10 11 4 9 14 9 10 11 9Infant, Newborn 13 11 13 10 13 10 13 12 13 14 13 11 13 11 13 11Pregnancy 14 13 15 14 14 12 14 14 15 12 14 12 14 8 14 13* rank 1-31 1-24 1-23 1-231-34 1-32 1-32 1-26Venezuela Cuba Colombia PeruLILACS-SP = Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health domain.                                                                         M= Medline                                                      L=LILACS-SPTable 7. Public Health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. Subject content distribution by Check-Tags  and databases(MEDLINE and LILACS-SP; 1980-2005).Brazil Agentina Chile Mexico  8 5. Lancet Editorial.  Mexico, 2004: Global health needs a new research agenda. The Lancet. 2004; 364(9445):1555-1556. 6. Global Forum on Health Research. The 10/90 report on health research 1999. Geneve: World Health Organisation, 1999. 7. Pellegrini Filho A, Goldbaum M, Silvi J. Production of scientific articles about health in six Latin American countries, 1973- 1992. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 1997; 1(1):23-24. 8. Frenk J, Bobadilla J.L, Sepúlveda J, Recental J, Rúelas E.  Un modelo conceptual para la investigación en salud pública.  Bol Of Sanit Panam. 1986; 101(5):477-489 9. Gonzalez Garcia, G. Health reforms and the managerial models. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2001; 9(6):406-412. 10. Macías-Chapula C.A.; Rodea-Castro I.P.; Mendoza-Guerrero J.A.; Gutiérrez-Carrasco, A. Visualization of knowledge  production on public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 10th International Conference of the  International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics ISSI. Stockholm: Karolinska University Press, 2005.     

Bibliometric and webometric analysis of heath system reforms

Cuba Colombia Peru LILACS-SP = Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature. Public health domain.

Hacia un modelo de comunicación en salud pública en América Latina y el Caribe. Rev. Panam Salud Publica.

Research on health inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean: bibliometric analysis (1971-2000) and descriptive content analysis (1971-1995). Rev Panam Salud Publica.

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Public health research work in Latin America and the Caribbean: A bibliometric analysis of the literature (1980-2005)

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