Biopsychosocial medicine research trends: connecting clinical medicine, psychology, and public health

Growth of biopsychosocial medicine The journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine was launched in January 2007, nearly 13 years ago. This is a peer-reviewed online journal that encompasses all aspects of the interrelationships between the biological, psychological, social, and behavioral elements of health and disease [1]. The journal emphasizes a biopsychosocial approach to illness and health, covering the behavioral sciences, social sciences, neuroscience, stress physiology and epidemiology, psychoneuroendocrinology/immunology, gut-brain axis, psycho-cardiology and psycho-oncology, all of which are associated with mind–body interactions and psycho social interventions including psychosomatic/behavioral therapeutic approach.. As of October 2020, 331 articles have been published, comprising 222 original research reports (67.1%), 63 reviews (19.0%), 25 case reports (7.6%), 14 editorials (4.2%), and seven other articles (2.1%). When all published articles were assigned to three main areas of study, biological/psychosomatic medicine, psychology, and public health, 142 (42.9%) articles were categorized in the biological/psychosomatic domain, 120 (36.3%) in the psychological area, 51 (15.4%) in public health, and 18 (5.4%) as “others”. The main topics in each area are shown in Table 1. A variety of psychosomatic illnesses have been investigated, including eating disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, coronary heart diseases, and allergic diseases. Articles related to women’s and children’s health and series in several clinical fields like pediatrics, gynecology, and dentistry were initiated. Cognitive behavioral therapies, relaxation training, and special treatments as Yoga or Kampo medicine have often been employed with such psychosomatic illnesses, and were carefully evaluated. Social factors such as work stress and over-adaptation have been shown to be associated with mind/body health.

and dentistry were initiated. Cognitive behavioral therapies, relaxation training, and special treatments as Yoga or Kampo medicine have often been employed with such psychosomatic illnesses, and were carefully evaluated. Social factors such as work stress and over-adaptation have been shown to be associated with mind/body health.
The top 10 articles, selected from among those published during 2007-2019 and most frequently accessed by Internet in 2019, are shown in

Future directions of biopsychosocial medicine
Editors and colleagues have regularly carried out thematic series addressing psychosomatic medicine to facilitate researchers' submission of reports focusing on a variety of biopsychosocial topics (Table 5). Interestingly, behavioral medicine was featured twice in the journal in 2016. Ours is an interdisciplinary field combining medicine, psychology, and social science, and the practice of psychosomatic medicine is closely related to that of behavioral medicine, particularly in terms of the biopsychosocial aspects of health.
More than 40 years have passed since Engel developed a biopsychosocial model that went beyond traditional biochemical models of clinical medicine [3], and more than 1500 articles have been published, according to the PubMed search using a text word of "biopsychosocial-      model". The Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine defines psychosomatic illness as any physical condition with organic or functional damage affected by psychosocial factors in its onset or development [4], and the biopsychosocial model is useful in improving clinical outcomes of such psychosomatic illnesses and a variety of chronic diseases, through creating awareness on the interactions among biological, psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual factors, and to enhance selfmanagement of illness conditions through multidisciplinary approach of patient care and other medical settings [5]. Although we know both favorable and critical opinions in the pre-existing literature, we still believe that the biopsychosocial model continues to offer valuable insights into clinical practice, medical education, and psychosomatic research and that it should be further developed to treat and prevent stress-related conditions. According to the recent report [6], mind-body approach, including Yoga, meditation, or other Eastern medicine techniques, can be a helpful adjunct in managing stress-related noncommunicable diseases by fostering resilience through self-care. BioPsychoSocial Medicine is the unique journal locating in Asia but disseminating the importance of psychosomatic medicine all over the world. Such successive activities will help mutual understanding and fusion of East and West in terms of mind-body connections of health. The editors welcome high-quality research clarifying mind/body relationship as they affect and are affected by health behaviors and social life in humans.

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The authors wrote the manuscript and hold final responsibility for the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.

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Obtained data and materials were based on information about the journal and are available only to editorial board members.
Ethics approval and consent to participate This is an editorial article summarizing previous articles in the journal; thus no ethical approval or consent to participate is needed.