REVIEW article
Front. Aging
Sec. Interventions in Aging
Research Hotspots and Trends in Intrinsic Capacity of Older People in the Context of Population Aging based on CiteSpace
Minhua Ren 1
Hongtao Guo 2
Ye Tian 2
Yingjie Guo 1
Wanjun Guo 1
Liangjin Zhu 2
1. Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
2. The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
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Abstract
【Abstract】Objective To employ bibliometrics to identify the research hotspots and development trends of the intrinsic capacity of older people, thereby providing novel insights for future studies on the management of intrinsic capacity in older adults and further facilitating the advancement of healthy aging. Methods The literature on the intrinsic capacity of older people, published by CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed, as well as the Web of Science Core Collection, was searched from January 2015 to December 2024. The Note Express 4.1.0 software was used for literature management, and the CiteSpace 6.4.R1 software was used to visually analyze the characteristics of the number of publications, countries, institutions, authors, and keywords, and to plot the relevant graphs. Results A total of 97 Chinese literatures and 745 English literatures were included. The number of publications on the older adults' intrinsic capacity has shown an increasing trend both domestically and internationally. In the past five years, intrinsic capacity has received extensive attention, with 96.9% of Chinese papers and 79.6% of English papers published from 2020 to 2024. European researchers collaborate closely, whereas Chinese research shows weaker collaboration and strong regionalism. Keyword analysis identified 6 clusters in Chinese literature and 17 in English. Chinese hotspots mainly include influencing factors, evaluation tools, chronic disease, grip strength, frailty, and falls. Future directions focus on quality of life, social support, and the recovery period. English studies center on association, management, muscle strength, frailty, exercise, and social support, with potential future directions in supplementation and inflammation. Conclusion Currently, Chinese research primarily focuses on analyzing influencing factors, with relatively few studies examining intervention measures, while English research has progressed to exploring of intervention strategies. As population aging accelerates, cross-institutional and interdisciplinary cooperation is becoming a key trend. Future research should deepen understanding, particularly for high-risk groups, and explore the effects of supplements, the predictive role of inflammatory markers, and the effectiveness of interventions for this population. These endeavors will contribute to providing precise and personalized management programs for older adults, enhance social support and quality of life, and promote the comprehensive implementation of healthy aging strategies.
Summary
Keywords
Bibliometrics, Intrinsic capacity, older people, Research hotspot, Research trend, visual analysis
Received
03 June 2025
Accepted
17 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Ren, Guo, Tian, Guo, Guo and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Hongtao Guo
Disclaimer
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