Scientific trends in obstructive sleep apnea biological and clinical assessment indicators: a bibliometric analysis

AIMS: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by diverse biological and clinical disturbances, yet no study has systematically examined scientific developments related to its objective assessment measures. This study aimed to map the development, research hotspots, and emerging trends related to biological and clinical assessment indicators in OSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus from 2000 to 2025 were reviewed. A total of 1,793 articles were analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, the R bibliometrix package, and Python. The analysis assessed publication and citation trends, country contributions, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution to map global research patterns in OSA assessment. RESULTS: The number of publications increased steadily over time, reflecting growing research interest in multidimensional assessment approaches. Research themes have evolved from general inflammatory and metabolic markers toward more mechanistic and clinically oriented indicators, including oxidative stress pathways, circulating biomarkers, and cerebrovascular or cognitive related measures. CONCLUSIONS: Current research increasingly emphasizes integrated biological and clinical assessment frameworks for better characterization of OSA. Future studies should focus on validation, methodological standardization, and the integration of multiple assessment domains to facilitate clinical translation.