Metaverse in Health: A Bibliometric Analysis

 Purpose:  In recent years, the Metaverse, which has become popular in technology, has been used in the health field as well as in many other fields. Due to its increasing importance, many studies have been conducted in the health field. This study aims to comprehensively examine the studies on Metaverse in health through bibliometric analysis.

 Methods:   In line with the study’s aim, books and documents, clinical studies, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, overview articles, and systematic review articles in the PUBMED database from 2021 to June 2024 were examined.  The search resulted in 93 articles listed, and 80 of them were reached. The data collected from these articles were classified using the bibliometric analysis method. The topics classified include publication years, research methods used (qualitative-quantitative), most frequently used keywords, number of authors, countries where the research was conducted, and the fields in which the most studies were carried out. The data found and the tables created were prepared using Excel.

 Results:   The frequency analysis revealed that the most studies were conducted in 2023. It also determined that more research was conducted in the field of psychology. The majority of studies were conducted in groups of three, with China contributing the most. Qualitative research was the most commonly used research method, and the keyword "Metaverse" was frequently used.

 Conclusions:  In light of the findings, it is understood that Metaverse studies will increase. It can be said that Metaverse may have more areas of use in internal branches. It is seen that academic studies in the field of Metaverse are carried out more in countries where technology is developing. In this case, academic studies progress depending on the direction of development in of the countries.