The impact of exercise on women's health: A bibliometric and visualization analysis (2010-2024)

With the rising global awareness of health, exercise has gained widespread attention as a crucial intervention for improving women's health. However, systematic research analyses in this field are relatively limited, necessitating a bibliometric approach to clarify the current research landscape and emerging trends.

Literature data for this study were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, specifically using the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index databases. An advanced search strategy was applied with the following search formula: TS = ("exercise" OR "physical activity" OR "fitness" OR "sport") AND TS = ("wome's health" OR "female health") AND TS = ("cardiovascular" OR "metabolic" OR "bone health" OR "mental health"). The search was limited to publications dated from January 1, 2010, to November 30, 2024. A total of 522 records were initially retrieved. After screening for English-language publications and excluding irrelevant or duplicate entries, 510 studies were included in the final analysis, consisting of 471 original research articles and 39 review articles. Data were analyzed using CiteSpace 6.4.R1 software. Bibliometric techniques such as co-citation analysis, keyword co-occurrence, were employed to systematically explore how exercise influences women's health and to identify research trends and emerging hotspots in this field.

The primary areas where exercise impacts women's health include cardiovascular, metabolic, bone, and mental health. Research hotspots focus on the specific effects of exercise intensity and frequency on various health indicators, as well as the efficacy of exercise interventions across different stages of a woman's life. In recent years, interdisciplinary research has led to an increasing trend in studies exploring the relationship between exercise and mental health. Additionally, data visualization highlighted key research institutions and highly cited publications, providing valuable references for future studies.

This study systematically reviews the multifaceted impacts of exercise on women's health through bibliometric and visualization methods, identifying current research hotspots and future directions. Based on the findings, future research should further explore the optimization of various exercise modalities and their application in managing women's health.