title: Palliative care research in Latin America and the Caribbean: from the beginning to the Declaration of Venice and beyond.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research in palliative care has increased significantly in the last decade, while the vast majority of the global disease burden occurs in developing countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore the palliative care research activity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and its visibility in the international palliative care literature, with a special focus on research studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A bibliometric analysis was conducted in MEDLINE(®), Embase(®), PsycINFO(®), and CINAHL(®). Inclusion criteria were: (1) articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals; (2) main subject was palliative care; (3) research study; (4) the first author or coauthors was based in LAC; and/or (5) the data collected derived from LAC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred six articles from 10 countries were identified in the literature research. The first publication dates from 1989 and was a qualitative study in Brazil. This study shows a modest contribution of publications from LAC. However, the volume of publications within the region is distributed unequally, reflecting the heterogeneity of the region: Brazil published more than half of the articles, while 35 countries have no publications. Most of the studies were quantitative research, predominantly cross-sectional studies. Qualitative studies often used interviews. Health care service was the most researched issue. Seventy percent of studies were carried out in institutions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Palliative care research should have a place in LAC. The development of a regional research agenda tailored to the needs and features of the region considering the health care structure and local resources available is indispensable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. tpastrana@ukaachen.de
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pastrana
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Lima
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eisenchlas
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wenk
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research; D017691:Caribbean Region; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D010166:Palliative Care