Research status and trends of physical activity on depression or anxiety: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background: Anxiety and depression are prevalent mental disorders. As modern society continues to face mounting pressures, the incidence of anxiety and depression is on the rise. In recent years, there has been an increasing breadth of research exploring the relationship between anxiety, depression, and physical activity (PA). However, the current research progress and future development trends are unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the research hotspots and development trends in this field, and to provide guidance for future studies and to provide some reference for clinicians.

Methods: We searched the relevant literature of Web of Science Core Collection from the establishment of the database to August 15, 2023. CiteSpace, VOSviewer and Bibliometrix Packages based on the R language were used to analyze the number of publications, countries, institutions, journals, authors, references, and keywords.

Results: A total of 1,591 studies were included in the analysis, and the research in the field of PA on anxiety or depression has consistently expanded. The USA (304 publications), Harvard University (93 publications), and the journal of affective disorders (97 publications) were the countries, institutions, and journals that published the highest number of articles, respectively. According to the keywords, students and pregnant women, adult neurogenesis, and Tai Chi were the groups of concern, physiological and pathological mechanisms, and the type of PA of interest, respectively.

Conclusion: The study of PA on anxiety or depression is experiencing ongoing expansion. Clinicians can consider advising patients to take mind-body exercise to improve mood. In addition, future researchers can explore the mind-body exercise and its impact on anxiety or depression, PA and anxiety or depression in specific populations, and adult neurogenesis of various exercise in anxiety or depression.

Keywords: adult neurogenesis; anxiety; bibliometric analysis; depression; physical activity.

Figure 1

The detailed retrieval process.

Figure 2

(A) The detailed method. (B) The number of articles published and the annual cumulative number of publications in each year about PA on depression or anxiety. (C) The top 10 countries by publication frequency. (D) The annual publication frequency line chart of the top 5 countries.

Figure 3

(A) Top 10 authors in terms of h-index. (B) Top 10 authors in terms of g-index. (C) Top 10 authors in terms of m-index. (D) The radar map of the top 10 authors in terms of h-index, g-index and m-index. (E) The author’s network visualization. (F) The author’s density visualization.

Figure 4

(A) The Cited references network visualization. (B) The Cited references density visualization.

Figure 5

(A) Visualization of keywords. (B) Cluster analysis of keywoeds. (C) Timeline graph of cluster analysis. (D) Top 20 keywords with the most strongest bursts.

Figure 6

(A) Adult neurogenesis. (B) The possible mechanism underlying PA induced AHN. PA, physical activity; BNDF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; BBB, blood–brain barrier; AHN, adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Images reproduced from Servier Medical Art (https://smart.servier.com/) under the terms of CC-BY 4.0.