Digital tools in traditional medicine: A bibliometric review of global trends (1995–2025)

This 30-year bibliometric analysis (1995–2025) presents the first comprehensive, data-driven visual mapping of global research on the integration of digital tools in Traditional Medicine (TM), examining 3068 unique publications from Scopus and PubMed. This work uniquely quantifies the field’s evolution, revealing a critical shift: following two decades of gradual activity, the domain entered an exponential acceleration phase after 2014, demonstrating its status as a high-growth research area. Thematic mapping based on keywords and MeSH terms highlights central research areas of telemedicine, mobile applications, and the impact of COVID-2019. Research is actively led by institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) as the most influential platform. However, network analysis reveals profound fragmentation across author and institutional clusters. Persistent structural deficiencies include the lack of universally accepted digital ontologies for TM systems and an insufficient number of large-scale Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) to rigorously evaluate digital interventions. These findings expose an urgent need for coordinated international collaboration to harmonize data standards and conduct rigorous validation studies, offering a crucial roadmap for future research to realize the full potential of digital health in TM.