Understanding people’s lives as they live them. Monitoring daily activities with EMA: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) has emerged as a method for capturing real-time data in people's daily lives. However, from an occupational therapy perspective, it is not only essential to gather information about daily life in general but also to gain specific insights into the engagement and performance of meaningful daily activities. This bibliometric analysis focuses on exploring the trends of monitoring daily activities through EMA. Understanding the engagement and performance of meaningful daily activities is essential for improving rehabilitation strategies and personalized interventions. Method: A bibliometric study was conducted using Web of Science, integrating existing research on EMA monitoring meaningful daily activities. The study examined both content and journal metrics through publication-related indicators, co-citation mapping, and co-word analysis. Results/discussion: Preliminary findings from the analysis of 3,408 articles highlight various ways in which EMA has been used to track and analyze meaningful daily activities. This analysis also presents publication-related metrics, trends in research protocol designs related to this topic, as well as trends in study outcomes and the interactions between key terms. This bibliometric analysis serves as the first step toward developing an EMA, with a focus on meaningful daily activities.