A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Hotspots and Trends Regarding Living Alone for Older Adults

Objective: As a major hot topic of current research, living alone is highly exploratory and strongly influences older adults. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis to obtain structural and significant insights into the characteristics of living alone for older adults and to identify the latest research frontiers and hot topics. Methods: We identified articles published between 2003 and 2022 from the Web of Science Core Collection database. We used VOSviewer software to map and visualize the publications. Results: We included a total of 1880 publications in our analysis. The US and China had the most output (418 and 226 papers, respectively) to this field. "Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review" by Holt-Lunstad J et al, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science in 2015, is the most cited paper with 2867 and has played an important role in guiding the development of this field. Conclusions: Research papers were published mainly in the geriatrics-gerontology category. Loneliness and social isolation were recognized as the focus of research on living alone for older adults.