Opioid Research at UNC-Chapel Hill

Summary

In response to the state of emergency declared for opioid abuse in the U.S., the Impact Measurement and Visualization team (IMV) at the Health Sciences Library (HSL) gathered the research that UNC-Chapel Hill (UNC) has published on opioids and opioid-related topics in the past 20 years (1999-2019). Organization, topic, and country analyses were produced from this publications set. The IMV team worked with the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) and faculty in the Gillings School of Public Health (Public Health) to identify the scope and relevant publications for this project.

Data Set

The publication data used in this analysis was exported from Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. A subject expert from Public Health and an HSL graduate assistant screened these publications for relevance and to ensure each publication was affiliated with at least one UNC author. This data was then cleaned and visualized using VOSviewer research network visualization software.

Deliverables

Country, topic, and, organization analyses were created to visualize the research network at UNC publishing opioid research. The organization analyses showed UNC-Chapel Hill units that have published on opioids as well as external organizations UNC has collaborated with in this research. Tableau was used to visualize the number of times UNC has worked with the top 30 collaborating organizations and when the majority of these collaborations took place. The country analysis illustrated the countries where UNC collaborators are based. The topic analysis showed the progression of opioid topics that UNC has published on over the past 20 years.

Significance and Future Directions

Interestingly, there is a marked transition in research topics around 2010 from a research/drug development focus to a more treatment-oriented focus. In addition, the top publishing countries were primarily western countries, such as the U.K. and Canada, though Asian countries such as China and Taiwan were also represented. This could possibly mean that while opioid addiction is still a primarily western issue, Asian countries are seeing signs of their own opioid crisis and are taking proactive measures. In the future, the IMV team hopes to expand this analysis to all North Carolina research institutions to see how the state as a whole is taking action against opioid addiction and researching treatment to assist those afflicted in this state.