Osteoporosis and Chronic Inflammation: A Global Bibliometric Analysis Between 1994 and 2025.

Abstract

Osteoporosis is increasingly recognized as a systemic disease influenced by chronic inflammation. The interdisciplinary nature of research in this field necessitates a comprehensive mapping of its evolution, contributors, and thematic trends. To perform a bibliometric analysis of global research on osteoporosis and chronic inflammation from 1994 to 2025, identifying publication patterns, key contributors, and emerging research themes. Publications were retrieved from Scopus using the terms "chronic inflamm*" and "osteoporo*." Eligible records included original research articles, reviews, conference papers, and editorials. Data were analyzed using bibliometrix (biblioshiny), VOSviewer, and Harzing's Publish or Perish to assess publication trends, geographical contributions, authorship patterns, journal metrics, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution. A total of 1464 documents from 855 journals were analyzed, authored by 6777 individuals. The average annual growth rate was 13.45%, with a collaboration index of 5.13 and an international collaboration rate of 16.8%. The United States of America led in total citations, while Malaysia, Lebanon, and Austria had the highest average article citations. Most prolific authors and top-cited works were concentrated in academic or governmental institutions, with limited industry-affiliated corresponding author representation identified in the dataset. Osteoporosis-focused journals achieved higher citation impact compared to multidisciplinary journals. Keyword analysis revealed three major thematic clusters: mechanistic/immunological underpinnings, clinical diagnostics/risk factors, and pharmacological interventions/comorbidities, with thematic evolution showing a shift toward interdisciplinary integration since 2014. Research on chronic inflammation and osteoporosis has expanded rapidly, integrating mechanistic, clinical, and translational perspectives. Our findings indicate that chronic inflammation has increasingly shifted from a peripheral topic toward a central organizing theme within osteoporosis research, reflecting growing integration between immunological and bone-centric research traditions.