Mapping Oral Frailty Research in the Elderly (1997–2024): A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis of China and the International Landscape

BACKGROUND: To map the developmental context, hotspots, and trends of oral frailty research in China and globally, clarify its research status and bottlenecks, and guide Chinese scholars in targeted studies and building a comprehensive oral frailty health management system. METHODS: Bibliometric analysis and knowledge graph visualization were used. Literature was retrieved from CNKI (2010-2024) and WOS Core Collection (1997-2024), with "oral hypofunction" standardized to "oral frailty". After screening, 71 Chinese and 339 international articles were included; CiteSpace 6.3.R1 analyzed publication volumes, collaboration networks, and keyword metrics. RESULTS: International publications rose steadily from 2009, and Chinese publications from 2012. Chinese author/institution collaboration was diffuse (no core teams), while international collaboration was stronger. China focused on "basic cognitive construction", international research on oral frailty-adverse health outcome links ("oral health" betweenness centrality = 0.27). 2022-2024: China focused on "elderly/frailty", international on "oral frailty-disease relationships". CONCLUSIONS: It clarifies phase differences (China: basic exploration; international: outcome association), confirms oral frailty as a systemic geriatric syndrome, supports China-adapted assessment frameworks, and provides data for China's assessment systems, interventions, and global collaboration.