A Global Bibliometric Analysis of Injuries and Violence; Healthcare Perspective on Children in Street Situations

Purpose This bibliometric review aimed to examine global publication trends related to injuries and violence affecting children living on the streets. The environment in which street children reside makes them vulnerable to injuries and violence, and their access to essential health services remains uncertain within national development agendas. Methods The study involved retrieving 1,234 publications from the Dimension Scientific Database. VOS Viewer 16.20 was used to create a visual landscape of publication trends per year from 2016 to 2025, analyse keyword co-occurrences, identify the most productive countries, visualize co-authorship networks, and examine institutions with significant publication and collaboration activity. Ultimately, a total of five publications were included in the review. Results The analysis revealed a significant number of publications on violence and injury among street children from 2016 to 2024, followed by a slight decline in 2025. The co-occurrence of keywords such as “violence,” “crime,” and “alcohol use” indicates the sources of violent behavior among street children. Additionally, similar titles suggest that countries like China, India, Kenya, and Ethiopia produce a high volume of research on children in street situations. In contrast, university collaboration data indicate that institutions in developed countries have higher publication rates than those in developing countries. Discussion The findings highlight a potential knowledge gap in addressing the issues of injury and violence among street children, particularly between developed and developing countries. In countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, poverty, abuse, and commercial sexual exploitation of girl street children are prevalent. The limited number of publications and low levels of university collaboration suggest insufficient funding and a lack of expert collaboration in research on injuries and violence affecting street children.