Longitudinal Effects of Intrauterine Growth Restriction on Neurodevelopment in Neonates: A Bibliometric Analysis

Dwi Hidayah, Annang Giri Moelyo, Nur Irfani Agita Suwarna

Abstract

Background and Aim: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is known to be associated with increased neonatal morbidity and mortality. It is observed that IUGR is also associated with delayed neurodevelopment. There is a dearth of published bibliometric research and scientific literature on this subject. Hence, this bibliometric research aims to provide a comprehensive update on the effects of IUGR on neurodevelopment in neonates.

Materials and Methods: The Scopus electronic database search was done to look for relevant articles on neurodevelopment in newborns and collect basic publishing and citation data found in article titles, abstracts, and key words. The bibliometric software VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were used to visualize author networks, countries, journals, and key words. The visualization map helped highlight the words and phrases in the title and abstract.

Results: Based on information from 980 articles, we found that the number of publications has fluctuated significantly between 2018 and 2023. The results showed that publications on IUGR and neurodevelopment increased by 2.07% per year across the past 5 years. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine published the highest number of articles pertaining to IUGR and neurodevelopment (n = 4 8). A mong the countries that published articles on this subject, the United States was leading. We found 4 theme groups: “neurodevelopment”, “fetal growth restriction”, “early for-gestational age”, and “intrauterine growth restriction”. The research interest from 2018 to 2023 was centered around “fetal development”, “preterm birth”, “nutrition”, and “preeclampsia”. “Brain”, “epigenetics”, “ultrasound”, “inflammation”, and “nutrition” can be further researched as density appeared thinner on the density visualization map.

Conclusion: This study shows that IUGR is associated with many longitudinal effects on neurodevelopment. Hence, there is a need for improvement in investigating these effects in depth.