Charles Shey Wiysonge|Olalekan A. Uthman|Peter M. Ndumbe|Gregory Hussey
A bibliometric analysis of childhood immunization research productivity in Africa since the onset of the Expanded Program on Immunization in 1974
South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative|University of Cape Town|University of Warwick|World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa|University of Cape Town
implementation strategic immunization plans whose development informed available locallyrelevant research evidence improve immunization coverage prevent disease disability death africa general health research helps answer questions generate evidence required guide policy identify new tools however factors influence publication immunization research africa known therefore undertook study fill research gap providing insights factors associated childhood immunization research productivity continent postulated research productivity influences immunization coveragewe conducted bibliometric analysis childhood immunization research output africa using research articles indexed pubmed surrogate total research productivity used zerotruncated negative binomial regression models explore factors associated research productivitywe identified 1641 articles childhood immunization indexed pubmed 1974 2010 authors africa represent 89 global output five countries south africa nigeria gambia egypt kenya contributed 48 articles controlling population gross domestic product gambia guineabissau sao tome principe productive countries univariable analyses countrys gross domestic product total health expenditure private health expenditure research development expenditure significant positive association increased research productivity immunization coverage adult literacy rate human development index physician density significant association multivarable model private health expenditure maintained significant statistical association number immunization articlesimmunization research productivity africa highly skewed private health expenditure significant positive association however current contribution authors africa global childhood immunization research output minimal lack association research productivity immunization coverage may indication lack interactive communication health decisionmakers program managers researchers ensure immunization policies plans always informed best available evidence