Mapping Knowledge Landscapes and Evolving Trends of Clinical Hypnotherapy Practice: A Bibliometrics-Based Visualization Analysis

Abstract

Fei-Yi Zhao,1– 3,* Li Li,4,* Peijie Xu,5,* Gerard A Kennedy,2,* Zhen Zheng,2 Yan-Mei Wang,3 Wen-Jing Zhang,3 Li-Ping Yue,1 Yuen-Shan Ho,6 Qiang-Qiang Fu,7 Russell Conduit2 1Department of Nursing, School of International Medical Technology, Shanghai Sanda University, Shanghai, 201209, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia; 3Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200071, People’s Republic of China; 4Shanghai Changning Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200335, People’s Republic of China; 5School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia; 6School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China; 7Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yuen-Shan Ho, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China, Tel [phone], Fax [phone], Email [email protected] Qiang-Qiang Fu, Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, People’s Republic of China, Tel + 86 021-6569 0520, Fax [phone], Email [email protected] and Aims: Increasing interest in hypnotherapy’s application for a wide range of health conditions has spurred a rise in global research and publications. This study aims to visualize development patterns and current research hotspots in clinical hypnotherapy practice using scientometric methods, and to predict future research directions based on the keyword trending topics analysis.Methods: Data on hypnotherapy applications and mechanisms in clinical settings between 1994 and 2023 were gathered from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, followed by analysis and visualization using the VOSviewer, Bibliometrix package in R, and CiteSpace.Results: A total of 1,549 publications were examined, indicating a steady annual increase with an average growth rate of 8.5%, reaching a high of 134 publications in 2022. The United States was the primary research hub. Collectively, 1,464 distinct institutions involving 3,195 scholars contributed to this research theme. Collaboration was predominantly confined to the same country, institution, and/or research team. High-frequency keywords included “Pain”, “Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)”, and “Anxiety”. Systematic review and/or meta-analysis have emerged as favored research methods. fMRI and EEG were commonly used techniques for exploring the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying hypnotherapy. “Self-Hypnosis”, “Virtual Reality”, and “Meditation” were predicted as trending topics, indicating that patients’ self-managed hypnosis practice, virtual reality hypnotherapy, and exploration of the variations in mechanisms between meditation and hypnotherapy might be emerging topics and/or future key research directions within the current field.Conclusion: The use of hypnotherapy for diverse clinical issues, particularly pain, IBS, and comorbid anxiety, is garnering global attention. The evidence-based approach is widely used to assess the quality of clinical evidence for hypnotherapy. Researchers are keen on innovating traditional hetero-hypnosis, with a shift towards more cost-effective self-hypnosis and immersive virtual reality hypnotherapy. Promoting and reinforcing collaborative research efforts across countries, institutions, and teams is warranted.Keywords: scientometrics, VOSviewer, Citespace, hypnosis, anxiety, pain, irritable bowel syndrome, complementary and alternative medicine

Keywords

• scientometrics
• vosviewer
• citespace
• hypnosis
• anxiety
• pain
• irritable bowel syndrome
• complementary and alternative medicine