EP.TH.311The 100 most influential Economic Analyses in medicine: a bibliometric and altmetric perspective

Abstract

Aims Bibliometric and Altmetric evaluation identify the most cited publications which have historically shaped the development of Economic Analysis (EA). Methods Thomson Reuters Web of Science was used to identify EA’s 100 most cited articles (search terms “economic analys*”, “cost-effectiveness analys*”, “cost-benefit analys*” or “cost-utility analys*”, alongside “medic*” or “surg*”) which were examined by topic, journal, author, year, institution, and Altmetric Score (AS). Results Articles numbering 9,895 were returned: median citation number 293 (interquartile range (IQR) 240-539). JAMA contributed most articles (n = 17) and citations (9,106). The country and year with most articles were the USA (n = 60), and 2003 (n = 9) respectively. The most ubiquitous topic was health economic methodology (n = 57). AS ranged from zero to 237.00 (median 8.00, IQR 3.00-20.75). Citation Rate Index increased in parallel with AS before and after 2006 (m = 0.29, m = 0.24), and before and after 2010 (m = 0.27) but with a higher initial gain (constant difference 13.1 and 15.1 respectively). Conclusion The most cited articles described effective tools for economic analyses with Altmetric Scores becoming increasingly influential in promoting citations. This review provides a reading list of the most influential references in this arena, and a guide to what constitutes citable medical economic research.