Trends and gaps in hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 research (2020–2023): Performance and conceptual mapping

Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine (CQ) and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) are antimalarial drugs with well-known anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects used to treat various diseases, with few side effects. After COVID-19 emergence, numerous researches from around the world have examined the potential of using CQ or HCQ as potential treatment of COVID-19. However, conflicting outcomes have been found in COVID-19 clinical trials after treatment with CQ or HCQ. This study aims to evaluate research on CQ and HCQ for COVID-19 treatment and prophylaxis control using bibliometric methods. We analyzed bibliometric data on HCQ and COVID-19 (HCQ-C19) quantitatively and semantically (2020–2023) using the Scopus database VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and MS Excel. Analyses of 7471 original and conference articles revealed that the total number of publications has continually increased. The country producing the most articles in this field was the United States, followed by Italy, India, and Spain. The top-productive authors on HCQ-C19 are Mussini, C., and Raoult, D. (Italy) with 23 and 21 articles, respectively. The top-impactful organization is IHU Méditerranée Infection, France. A Bibliometrix’s network analysis based on the co-occurrence of keywords revealed the following themes HCQ-C19, including "clinical research/practice," "COVID-19," "thrombosis," "HCQ," "epidemiology," and "infectious disease." In conclusion, the analysis reveals a growing interest in HCQ-C19 research. Prominent contributions come from the United States, Italy, India, and Spain. Key themes include clinical research/practice, COVID-19, thrombosis, HCQ, epidemiology, and infectious disease. Future recommendations include conducting well-designed clinical trials and fostering collaborative interdisciplinary efforts.