Critical care in older adults: Research landscape and hotspots from a bibliometric perspective

Abstract

As the population ages, there will be an increasing demand for health care resources, particularly in intensive care. Therefore, critically ill older adults are receiving increasing attention and have been extensively studied. However, the research landscape, dynamic patterns, and emerging topics in this area have scarcely been reviewed. This study aimed to delve into the current status and emerging trends (publication volume and research topics) in critical care for older adults (including interventions, outcomes, and complications) using bibliometric analysis. We retrieved original articles and reviews focusing on critical care for older adults published between 2013 and 2022 from the Web of Science core database. To examine and present the research trends, we employed VOSviewer and CiteSpace software for analysis and visualization. The cooperative network of countries and institutions, cocited authorship network, cocited references, and cooccurrence network of keywords were analyzed. Overall, 6356 articles and reviews published between 2013 and 2022 were analyzed, revealing a noticeable upward trend in the number of publications focused on critical care for older adults. In total, 34,654 authors from 7989 institutions across 131 countries collaborated to publish 6356 papers related to critical care for older adults in 1715 academic journals. The United States of America and China were the top contributors in terms of research studies, while Bertrand Guidet was the most prolific author with the highest number of articles. A dual-map overlay of the literature revealed that research papers published in Molecular/Biology/Genetics and Health/Nursing/Medicine journals were frequently referenced in Medicine/Medical/Clinical journals. Older patients with coronavirus disease 2019, delirium, and frailty were new trends and developing areas of interest. This is the first bibliometric study focusing on critical care in older adults. The research topics indicate that a comprehensive geriatric assessment, tailored interventions, and specific therapeutic algorithms among older adults are recommended to improve outcomes. Furthermore, this study provides valuable insights for clinical decision-making, guideline development, and resource allocation in critical care settings.