Bibliometric review on sleep and Alzheimer disease between 1986 and 2023

Objective: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a major disease that affects the elderly worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between AD and sleep disorders, identify journal publications and collaborators, and analyze keywords and research trends using a bibliometric method.

Methods: Data retrieval is based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace V.6.1.R6 was used to analyze bibliometric analysis, calculate centrality, and draw co-occurrence maps of countries/regions, institutions, authors, published journals, cited literature, keyword co-occurrence maps, cluster maps, time graphs, and emergent maps from January 1986 to April 2023.

Results: There were 4677 publications relevant to AD and sleep disorders. From 1986 to 2023, the number of publications per year showed an increasing trend. The United States not only has the largest output of publications, the first in the centrality ranking, but also owns the 3 highest frequencies of publication institutions. The journal NEUROLOGY has the highest citation frequency, reaching 2671, with a median centrality value of 0.64. A comprehensive analysis of centrality showed that AD, circadian rhythm, dementia, Parkinson disease, sleep, and older adults are both high-frequency words and high centrality words, becoming core keywords in this field.

Conclusions: This was the first study to provide an overview, about the current main status of development, hot spots of the study, and the future trends in sleep disorders and AD, which provides a comprehensive review of the trends and gaps in field of sleep and AD, and thus lays the groundwork for future research.