The scientific production of social frailty: A bibliometric analysis

As a result of the increase in the elderly population, frailty has emerged as a major public health problem. It is characterised by a heightened state of vulnerability, particularly among older individuals who are at greater risk of adverse health outcomes. Although the theoretical basis of frailty is well established in the literature, the concept has evolved over time, leading to new perspectives. One of these emerging dimensions is social frailty, which refers to limited or absent participation in social networks and the perception of inadequate contact and support. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of this topic, it is essential to analyse and map the existing literature. Mapping scientific knowledge implies a comprehensive review of relevant scientific articles. Through bibliometric techniques, it is possible to provide a systematic and replicable methodology based on statistical measures of scientific production, including researchers, publications, and scientific activities. This study focuses on science mapping, which allows for the identification and visualisation of themes and trends, both within a specific period (synchronically) and over time (diachronically). This paper therefore aims to present a systematic review of the literature on social fragility, analysing its scientific productivity in the social field (Gerontology, Sociology, Family Studies, Social issues, social studies, Psychology, Social work, Demography). Specifically, we examined 1.311 English documents on the topic of social frailty from 1985 - 2022 on Web of Science (WoS) defined by the queries ""social frailty" OR "social vulnerabilit*" AND "elderl*" OR "frail elderl*".