Visualization of dementia literature trends by using word co-occurrence analysis

Objectives and background: nowadays, dementia is considered as a global epidemy that causes disability particularly in the elderly people. With Population increase of the elderly people around the world, there are an increasing number of people with dementia which in turn results in an increase in the related research. Scientometric studies provide the opportunity of investigating the situation of scientific production and the subject trends in this area of research. Materials and Methods: the present study examines the scientific production of dementia based on the Web of Science in Geriatrics and Gerontology subject category till the end of June 2015. The word co-occurrence analysis of keywords was used in order to mapping science and determines the subject trend of dementia-related research.Findings: the results showed that the number of articles has increased from 14 research papers in 1983 to 1130 in 2014. 14417 research papers involve 55892 keywords. The results from word co-occurrence analysis of keywords indicated that these concepts are classified into 5 cluster including Cognition, Frail Elderly, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer Disease, and Dementia. Moreover, the results of keyword analysis in 5 year periods showed that in addition to Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, the number of keywords such as Cognition, aging, Memory, and caregiver increased. Besides Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, the risk factors enhance.Conclusion: familiarity with the research trends and hot subjects in dementia research help the researchers and policymakers with making better decisions in conducting research studies and funding on this area