State of the art research on the brazilian national scientific production of medicalization of behavior

Abstract

This study presents quantitative state-of-the-art research aimed at mapping Brazilian scientific publications on the topic of medicalization of behaviors between the years 2000 and 2018. The research identified authors, their respective states, regions, and institutions of origin, the number of publications per year, the journals in which the articles were published, the fields of knowledge of these journals, the target subjects of the research, the type of research, and the emphasis on the involved medicalization. Data from the Periodic Portal from CAPES provided the analytical material using the following search strategy: medicalization AND (behavior* OR deviation OR conduct OR disorder OR suffering). The collected data were used to create graphs in order to provide an overview of the research on the subject. The findings indicate, among other things: an increase in the number of publications since 2009; a concentration of authors in Brazilian states from the southeastern and southern regions; a higher prevalence of publications in journals related to Collective and Interdisciplinary Health fields; a predominance of theoretical research compared to empirical studies; and a significant focus on women as the subject of research on medicalization of behaviors.