Visualization and emerging topics in the global scientific production on neonatal abstinence syndrome: a bibliometric approach

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a condition that affects newborns exposed to opioids or addictive substances during gestation.The prevalence of this condition has increased significantly in recent decades, particularly in high-income countries.This study aimed to identify the bibliometric characteristics and visualize emerging topics in the global scientific production on NAS.A bibliometric analysis was conducted using documents retrieved from the SCOPUS database between 1994 and 2023.The search strategy incorporated terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), Emtree, and free-text keywords.Annual growth, collaboration networks, the most frequent keywords, and the most cited articles were analyzed.A total of 1,455 documents were retrieved, with an annual growth rate of 9.57% and a coefficient of determination of 0.89.Open-access publications accounted for 37.59% of the studies.The United States led the scientific production with 52.4% of the documents, followed by Canada (4.9%) and Australia (3.9%).The most frequent keywords after 2020 were "sleep, ""neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, " and "neurodevelopment." Scientific production on NAS has increased substantially over the past decades, with a predominance of studies conducted in the United States and Canada.Future research should focus on the diagnosis, treatment, and burden of incidence and prevalence in low-and middle-income countries.