Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Health Care Research Trends and Suggestions for Better Services Approaches Via Blockchain Based Applications

Impact of COVID-19 on PHC & Blockchain Based Applications

Authors

  • Muhammet Damar, PhD Associate Professor, Computer Science Deapartment, Faculty of Science, Dokuz Eylul University, Alsancak, İzmir, Turkiye; Upstream Lab, MAP, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3985-3073
  • Andrew David Pinto, MD, MSc Associate Professor, Upstream Lab, MAP, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto Ontario, Canada, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Fatih Safa Erenay, PhD Associate Professor, Management Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3408-0366
  • Ömer Aydin, PhD Manisa Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7137-4881

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30953/bhty.v8.400

Keywords:

Bibliometric analysis, blockchain, COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, primary healthcare, topic modeling

Abstract

Objective: The authors assessed how research in primary healthcare was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and identified the potential of blockchain technology to address pandemic-related challenges.

Methods: This quantitative bibliometric research study used machine learning techniques. A comprehensive analysis of all primary healthcare (PHC) research was conducted using bibliometric data from the WOs. We examined co-authorship, co-occurrences, citation and co-citation, thematic mapping, factorial, document, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic analyses. Our main dataset was 1,885 articles produced by 9,185 researchers from 3,132 institutions in 113 countries.

Results: The most cited studies in the PHC field during the pandemic related to telemedicine and remote consultation, along with clinical conditions such as mental health, diabetes, vaccinations, risks during pregnancy, and healthcare of the elderly. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 on educational outcomes, changes to the organization of care, experiences and challenges to PHC physicians and other health professionals, and the diversity of COVID-19 symptoms were prominent.

Conclusions: The PHC researchers adapted quickly to the pandemic and conducted multidisciplinary research that helped to mitigate the impact on individuals, health systems, and society. Within this context, blockchain technology can be used to facilitate the security of health data, resource management (e.g., monitoring of the vaccine supply chain), and global collaboration toward pandemic control. By providing transparency, security, and efficiency in these areas, blockchain technology might lead to more effective pandemic preparedness and management in the future.

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Published

2025-07-08 — Updated on 2025-07-31

How to Cite

Damar, M., Pinto, A. D., Erenay, PhD, F. S., & Aydin, O. (2025). Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Health Care Research Trends and Suggestions for Better Services Approaches Via Blockchain Based Applications: Impact of COVID-19 on PHC & Blockchain Based Applications. Blockchain in Healthcare Today, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.30953/bhty.v8.400

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025): Blockchain in Healthcare Today Platform Approaches Journal

Section

Original Research

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Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammet Damar, Andrew David Pinto, Fatih Safa Erenay, Omer Aydin

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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