A bibliometric study of social isolation and biomarkers of ageing

Abstract

Abstract Research on social isolation suggests that psychosocial factors are not only associated with adverse mental health conditions but also associated with various neurobiological and immunological processes. The physiological mechanisms underlying the health effects of social isolation can be indicated by various biomarkers such as cortisol, cytokines, C-reactive protein, telomere length, DNA methylation, epigenetic clocks. Though the research concerning the relationship between social isolation and biomarkers of ageing is expanding, a detailed and comprehensive picture of global research trends, emerging patterns of themes is limited. The present study attempts to examine the scientific production, influential contributions of authors, evolution of major research themes on social isolation and biomarkers of ageing. Scopus database has been used to retrieve relevant publications using a structured search strategy. Systematic and transparent data extraction, filtering, and cleaning procedures resulted in construction of the final bibliometric dataset. The records were published during the time period of 1971–2026 and included only scientific articles, review and English-language documents. The final dataset consisted of 1973 publications. Bibliometrix packages in Rstudio are used to conduct performance and conceptual mapping. The findings of the study are represented under performance indicators, thematic mapping, evolution of themes during different time slices and factorial analysis. The results reflected the major contributions from developed countries and leading institutions showing scholarly interest in the biological consequences of social isolation. The future research can be directed towards finding relationships between biopsychosocial determinants of overall well-being of the person, developing intervention strategies aimed at reducing the negative consequences of social isolation.