Page 7 - IJPS-11-1

International Journal of

Population Studies

REVIEW ARTICLE
Exercise and frailty in later life: A systematic

review and bibliometric analysis of research
themes and scientific collaborations

Azliyana Azizan*

Centre of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Exercise is a promising intervention for frailty, but optimal protocols and
implementation approaches remain unclear. In this review, a bibliometric analysis
was conducted to synthesize research growth, collaborations, intellectual structure,
and gaps in the literature on frailty and exercise over the past two decades. The Web
*Corresponding author: of Science and Scopus databases were searched for relevant publications from 1987 –
Azliyana Azizan 2024. The bibliometric analysis examined publication trends over time, contributing
(azliyana9338@uitm.edu.my)
countries, institutions, authors, journals, research themes and hotspots, collaboration
Citation: Azizan, A. (2025). patterns, and evidence gaps. Data visualization and mapping were conducted using
Exercise and frailty in later life: A VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, and ScientoPy. A total of 447 publications were included in
systematic review and bibliometric
analysis of research themes the analysis. The results indicate that research output has grown rapidly since 2010,
and scientific collaborations. led by the United States of America (USA), China, Japan, Spain, and Italy. The University
International Journal of Population of Valencia (n = 12) and the School of Medicine, USA (n = 11) were the most prolific
Studies, 11(1): 1-15.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.3282 institutions. Five key research clusters were identified through keyword analysis:
(i) Frailty assessment, (ii) clinical trials, (iii) cognition, (iv) exercise protocols, and
Received: March 27, 2024
(v) physical outcomes. Regional collaborations were prominent between European,
1st revised: March 29, 2024 North American, and East Asia-Pacific countries. The bibliometric analysis revealed
2nd revised: April 7, 2024 a surge in publications, with research concentrated in a few productive hubs. There
is potential for newer institutions to emerge through international collaborations.
3rd revised: May 22, 2024
Addressing gaps in qualitative, psychosocial, economic, implementation, and
4th revised: May 24, 2024 translational research could accelerate the translation of evidence into policy and
5th revised: May 29, 2024 practice. Continued knowledge sharing and partnerships focused on priority gaps
can optimize exercise interventions amidst global population aging. This review
6th revised: June 20, 2024
synthesized the growth, collaborative landscape, and intellectual structure of
Accepted: July 3, 2024 research on frailty and exercise over nearly four decades. The findings provide
Published Online: September 13, insights to inform future research directions and facilitate the translation of evidence
2024 into optimized exercise protocols that can be implemented at scale to benefit frail
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). older adults.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Exercise; Frailty; Content analysis
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with The unprecedented demographic shift toward an aging global population poses
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional immense challenges for health-care systems worldwide. By 2050, the number of
affiliations. individuals aged 65 and above is projected to reach a staggering 2 billion, more than

Volume 11 Issue 1 (2025) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.3282