Worldwide research output trends on drinking and driving from 1956 to 2015.

This study seeks to analyze worldwide research activity on drinking and driving of macro-actors (countries and research fields) and meso-actors (institutions, journals, articles, co-substance(s) studied) during the last 6 decades (between 1956 and 2015). Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus were searched using terms referred to drinking and driving, including terms related to vehicles and way spaces. Overlapping was excluded and absence of false positives was confirmed. Articles on alcohol with/without other psychoactive substances were assessed quantitatively (bibliometric measures). Well identified by All Science Journal Classification system (ASJC) (Elsevier Scopus), an increase in the number of articles through the 6 decades analyzed was observed, from 152 (1956-1965) to 2302 (2006-2015), which represent an average decadal growth rate (ADGR) of 72.21. Among 89 countries, United States of America published 37.62 % out of all the included articles. Nevertheless, institutions from Canada, European Union and Australia published 50 articles or more during 60 years. The publications were mostly welcomed by journals on substance abuse research, and an exponential increase in publications on combined use of alcohol and other driving-impairing substances was observed since the second half of the eighties. This is the first study that attempted an analysis of scientific production of macro- and meso-actors on a topic belonging to an intricate research area. Bibliometric analyses should be considered as an important tool for updating the evidence on the serious problem of driving under the influence (DUI). The awareness of policy makers and the other relevant actors involved in the control of DUI of alcohol and other substances is stressed.