A scientometric review of religiosity, spirituality, and well-being in elderly populations

Background and Purpose: Research on the relationships between religiosity, spirituality, and elderly well-being has grown rapidly, yet its intellectual structure and thematic evolution remain fragmented across disciplines. This study maps the knowledge base on religiosity/spirituality and well-being among older adults, identifies influential contributors and themes, and highlights gaps to guide future scholarship. Methodology: We retrieved 577 English-language journal articles published from 1992 to 2023 from the Web of Science Core Collection using topic searches combining religiosity/spirituality, well-being, and elderly-related terms. We conducted descriptive performance analysis (publication trends and leading journals, countries, and institutions) and used CiteSpace to run co-citation network analysis and thematic clustering. Findings: The literature shows sustained growth, with the steepest rise in the last decade. Key clusters emphasize mental health and quality-of-life outcomes, religious/spiritual coping, social support, and care settings. Less-developed fronts include spirituality-informed public health and social policy, as well as longitudinal evidence on how religiosity and spirituality shape well-being trajectories in later life. Contributions: This scientometric study consolidates a dispersed field by visualizing its core structure and emerging fronts, and proposes a forward agenda that is more interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, and longitudinal. Keywords: Aging population, co-citation analysis, elderly well-being, mental health, religiosity, scientometric analysis, spirituality. Cite as: Abd Aziz, N. N., & Mohd Noor, M. I. (2026). A scientometric review of religiosity, spirituality, and well-being in elderly populations. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 11(1), 99-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol11iss1pp99-115