Global Research on Centenarians: A Historical and Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis from 1887 to 2023

Abstract

Background Centenarians are considered the most successful human biological aging model. However, the characteristics and patterns of research among centenarians have not been described or analyzed. Thus, this study aimed to disclose the historical landscape of global research on centenarians. Methods This bibliometric study investigated historical evidence on centenarian research published in the Scopus database. The bibliometrix package in R was used to perform visual and quantitative analyses of research metrics, trends, and patterns. Results Of the 2,061 documents included between 1887 and 2023, 84.2% (n=1,736) were published as articles with primary data. We identified international collaboration and annual growth rates of 21.4% and 3.15%, respectively. The United States published the highest number of papers on centenarians (n=786), whereas the publications from Italy had the highest impact (h-index of 90). Based on the frequency of keywords, mortality, genetics, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and immunosenescence are a few of the most studied topics among centenarians, with emerging research related to mitochondrial DNA and comparison of results between nonagenarians and centenarians. Italy, the United States, and China lead the global research collaboration network, collaborating most frequently with Japan and European countries. Conclusion Global research on centenarians has grown over the last 20 years, primarily led by Italy, the United States, and China. Latin American and African countries have conducted little or no research on centenarians. The most widely studied topics include mortality, cognition, immunosenescence, and genetics.

Keywords

• centenarians
• longevity
• aged
• research
• bibliometrics