ABSTRACT
Background: The mortality rate of colorectal cancer in China is on the rise, which has exceeded the global average rate, thus making the care of colorectal cancer widely concerned. As a comprehensive nursing model, the patient navigation model has shown its effectiveness in improving the quality of life among patients with chronic diseases and reducing the shortage of current healthcare resources in some area. This study aims to identify the current status and dilemma of the patient navigation model applied in colorectal cancer care in China. Methods: Bibliometric method was used to analyze published articles regarding the application of patient navigation model in colorectal cancer care retrieved from the Web of Science database. Statistics were presented using visualization method processed by the Bibliographic Items Co-occurrence Matrix Builder (BICOMB) software. Results: 124 articles, from 2006 to 2018, covering 14 countries, involving 931 researchers, 356 institutions and 60 publications were obtained; American research papers are the largest components of the aforementioned articles; only one of them is written by Chinese authors. The 3 leading institutions in this domain are University OF Rochester, Ohio State University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, yet the distribution of authors is relatively decentralized. “Cancer” is the main journal that publishes the researches in this domain. Research hotspots are on “cancer prevention and screening”, “health disparities”, “economic evaluation”, “patient navigators”, and “ethnicity”. Conclusion: In China, the research on the patient navigation is still in its infancy. Therefore, the Chinese government should provide more endorsement to this particular area and encourage the cooperation with other countries. China, having a long way to go, should further explore patient navigation on colorectal cancer care and establish a model that matches its cultural backgrounds.