Use of Probiotics in Pregnancy: A Bibliometric Exploration of Scientific Production

Introduction: The use of probiotics has gained greater relevance for disease prevention given their mechanism of action. Aim: To analyze the bibliometric characteristics of scientific publications related to the use of probiotics in pregnant women. Materials and methods: A bibliometric study that explored and analyzed the scientific production indexed in Scopus, based on a systematic search carried out with a strategy composed of keywords and Boolean operators. The bibliometric indicators were estimated with the Scival tool, and the co-authorship network was performed using VOSviewer. Results: Laitinen Kirsi was positioned as the author with the highest number of publications, although Nitert Marloes Dekker and Barrett Helen L have a higher field-weighted impact (FWCI: 4.17), the University of Auckland, New Zealand, leads in the subject area, and the Russian Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has a lower field-weighted citation impact (FWCI: 1.1). China and the United States exhibit a higher concentration of scientific publications, the latter showing a strong collaborative link with the United Kingdom. Nutrients is the journal that has published the most; however, the European Journal of Nutrition has the greatest impact, presenting an average of 79.8 citations per publication. Conclusion: There is a favorable trend in the number of publications, especially in journals positioned in the Q1 and Q2 quartiles. China, Australia and the United States are shown as the countries with the greatest scientific activity and collaborations with various countries.