Aging and Its Societal Impact: A Bibliometric Analysis

Aging has increasingly become a significant societal concern, with impacts extending beyond the medical domain. Despite extensive research on aging’s multifaceted effects, there remains a need for a comprehensive review that summarizes current research on its societal implications from a non-medical perspective. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 986 documents from the Web of Science database, covering the period from 1970 to 2023. Using performance analysis and science mapping techniques, the study identifies key authors, journals, countries, articles, keywords, and trends within this research domain. Findings reveal a predominant focus on geriatrics, gerontology, and business economics, with a notable increase in publication volume over time. The keyword and trend analyses indicate a shift from a primarily medical focus to broader societal issues, such as economic growth, labor markets, consumer behavior, sustainable development, and healthy aging. This shift is accompanied by an evolving emphasis from research predominantly centered in the United States to a growing focus on China, reflecting heightened global and regional interest in the impacts of aging. The study underscores the need for further cross-disciplinary research that integrates insights from economics, sociology, and environmental sciences to better understand aging’s multifaceted effects and inform policy development.