Bibliometric analysis of “sarcopenia” in Web of Science

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TL;DR

This bibliometric analysis of 12,461 sarcopenia publications from the Web of Science (2018–2023) found that most articles were research articles (71.0%), with the highest publication output in 2021 (3,537 papers). The top WoS categories were Geriatrics Gerontology (2,792) and Nutrition Dietetics (1,857), while only 196 papers were classified under Rheumatology, highlighting a gap in sarcopenia research in rheumatic diseases. The study underscores the growing scientific interest in sarcopenia but notes insufficient attention in rehabilitation and rheumatology fields.

Full summary

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**Background:** Sarcopenia is defined as age-related muscle wasting characterized by the combination of appendicular muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance measures. Primary sarcopenia is associated with advanced age, while secondary sarcopenia is disease-associated and occurs in conditions such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, heart failure, and kidney failure. The prevalence of sarcopenia varies from 6–22% in elderly individuals, depending on gender, age, pathological conditions, and diagnostic criteria. Despite its clinical importance, sarcopenia has not been adequately diagnosed and controlled in routine practice. The author conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) between 2018 and 2023 to provide an objective perspective on sarcopenia research across different regions and disciplines, particularly from a rheumatologist's viewpoint.

**Methods:** A systematic evaluation of the literature was performed using the WoS database on January 3, 2023. The search term "sarcopenia" was used, yielding 12,461 articles for analysis. All indexes were included: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E), and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). For each article, the authors reviewed: authors, publication year, title, document types, publishing country/journal/institution, keywords, WoS categories, publishers, indexes, citation topics, and reports. Descriptive data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel 2010, and visualizations from the WoS database were utilized. IBM SPSS 21.0 was used for graphing. Citation reports were only available for 10,000 records or fewer in the WoS database.

**Key Results:** Among 12,461 articles, document types included 8,855 research articles (71.0%), 1,793 reviews (14.3%), 1,028 meeting abstracts (8.2%), 3,963 early accesses (3.1%), 364 letters (2.9%), and 330 editorial materials (2.6%). A total of 7,446 were open access. By publication year, 3,537 were published in 2021 (highest), 3,349 in 2022, 3,024 in 2020, 2,532 in 2019, and 19 in 2023. The top 5 WoS categories were: Geriatrics Gerontology (2,792; 22.4%), Nutrition Dietetics (1,857; 14.8%), Medicine General Internal (1,570; 12.6%), Oncology (983; 7.8%), and Endocrinology and Metabolism (914; 7.3%). Notably, only 196 papers were in Rheumatology and 201 in Rehabilitation. The top 5 affiliations were University of Melbourne (236), University of California System (213), UDICE French Research Universities (201), Harvard University (190), and University of London (187). The top 5 researchers were Landi, Francesco (80 papers; Italy), Duque, Gustavo (65; Canada), Marzetti, Emanuele (63; Italy), Byuyere, Olivier (58; Belgium), and Reginster, Jean Yves (55; Saudi Arabia). By country, the USA ranked first (2,192 papers), followed by Japan (1,924) and People's Republic of China (1,028). English was the most frequently used language (12,242 papers). Top citation topics were Nutrition and Dietetics (6,225), Musculoskeletal Disorders (803), Bone Disease (251), Urology & Nephrology-General (236), and Hepatitis (163). The top 5 publishers were Springer Nature (2,295), Elsevier (2,200), Wiley (2,003), MDPI (1,423), and Frontiers Media SA (544). The number of citing articles between 2018 and 2022 was 39,534 (with self-citations) and 39,088 (without self-citations); times cited was 94,584 (with self-citations) and 69,585 (without self-citations). The most cited document was "Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis" by Cruz-Jentoft et al. (2019) in Age and Aging with 3,821 citations. The top publication titles were Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (755; 6.0%), Nutrients (431; 3.4%), Clinical Nutrition (214; 1.7%), Journal of Clinical Medicine (192; 1.5%), and Journal of Nutrition Health Aging (186; 1.4%). Index distribution showed SCI-E: 11,324 (90.8%), SSCI: 2,573 (20.6%), and ESCI: 1,007 (8.0%).

**Clinical Implications:** The study highlights that sarcopenia research is concentrated in geriatrics and nutrition, with relatively few publications in rheumatology (196) and rehabilitation (201), despite sarcopenia being frequently observed in autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory conditions. The author emphasizes that clinicians often overlook sarcopenia when managing primary diseases, negatively affecting treatment outcomes and quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 likely contributed to increased sarcopenia prevalence due to immobilization, malnutrition, and intensive care unit stays. The findings suggest a need for greater awareness of sarcopenia across different medical disciplines, particularly in rheumatology and rehabilitation. The author recommends that primary healthcare professionals identify risk factors for age-related and disease-related sarcopenia, and that sarcopenia should be considered in routine examinations for people with advanced age and chronic diseases. More clinical studies using appropriate methods to measure muscle mass are needed, and standardized diagnostic criteria should be developed to improve diagnosis and treatment guidelines.