Maternal depression research: socioeconomic analysis and density-equalizing mapping of the global research architecture

Maternal depression can be accounted for one of the most common complications during pregnancy and the postpartum period affecting women all over the world. So far, no detailed map of the worldwide maternal depression research architecture has been constructed, which encompasses aspects of research activity, quality, and also socioeconomic features. Using the NewQIS platform, density-equalizing mapping projections, scientometric techniques, and economic benchmarking procedures were applied to evaluate global maternal depression research for the period between 1900 and 2012. In total, 7330 related publications and 3335 international collaborations were identified. The USA was the most active country concerning collaborations and total research activity. In the socioeconomic analysis of research activity in high-income countries, Australia was ranked first with an average of 412.05 maternal depression-related publications per 1000 billion US$ GDP (Q₁), followed by the UK (Q₁ = 373.51) and Canada (Q₁ = 306.32). The group of upper-middle-income countries was led by South Africa (Q₁ = 145.67), followed by Turkey (Q₁ = 91.8). China authored 11.95 maternal depression-related publications per 1000 billion US$ GDP. The USA had the highest activity of maternal depression research per GDP in billion US$ per capita (Q₂ = 60.86). When research activity was related to population size (Q₃ = publications per Mio. inhabitants), Australia (Q₃ = 26.44) was leading the field, followed by Norway (Q₃ = 18.48). Gender analysis revealed a relatively high degree of female scientists involved in this field of research with pronounced differences between single subject areas. In summary, we here present the first picture of the global scientific development in maternal depression research over a period of more than 100 years. The research landscape is clearly dominated by North American and Western European countries, with only minor contribution of Asian or South American countries.