Analysis of research hotspots and frontiers on psychology of cancer family caregivers

Objective  To explore the research hotspots and development trends in the field of cancer family caregivers′ psychology.

Methods  The Web of Science core collection database was searched to obtain the psychological literature information of cancer family caregivers, and CiteSpace 5.8 R3 software was used for visual analysis from countries or regions, co-citation literatures, authors, research institutions and keywords.

Results  A total of 2 824 valid documents were retrieved, and the country with the largest number of publications was the United States; quality of life and family care were popular research topics in this field.

Conclusion  Studies on the psychology of cancer family caregivers are mostly concentrated in developed countries. Chinese scholars need to learn from international research hotspots, combine local culture, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and conduct in-depth exploration on the psychology of cancer family caregivers in China.