Comparison of research hotspots and trends in long-term care for the elderly between China and Australia: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract Objective: To explore the current status and development of long-term care (LTC) research in terms of publications in China and Australia, to identify the major contributing authors and institutions, and to compare the research hotspots and trends between China and Australia in order to encourage informed collaborations and work in future. Methods: We collected bibliometric data on the LTC of the elderly in China and Australia from 2009 to 2020 using Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WOS). CiteSpace software was used to analyze co-authorships, co-institutions, and co-keywords. Results: A total of 826 articles in Chinese and 393 in English were included for analysis. The total number of publications showed an upward trend in both countries. The top 10 productive researchers and institutions in China and Australia were identified, and their collaboration network was revealed. Then, the knowledge maps of cooccurring keywords, respectively, showed the hotspots of “LTC insurance, disabled elderly, combination of medical and health care, nursing home” and “nursing home, dementia, quality of life, intervention” in China and Australia. Strong citation burst keywords illustrated the emerging trends of “combination of medical and health care, healthy aging” in China and “polypharmacy, prevention” in Australia. Conclusions: This article provided an insight into LTC of the elderly in China and Australia, and research in this field is developing rapidly and is being increasingly valued. The findings will be useful for future researchers to facilitate collaboration, identify new topics, and support urgently needed research of LTC in China.