Global perspectives and clinical trends in Qigong research: a bibliometric and visual analysis (2005-2025)

Qigong, a mind-body practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has gained increasing recognition in global health and growing scientific attention. However, the global research landscape remains insufficiently mapped. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis is needed to evaluate research status, hotspots, and clinical trends, thereby guiding future academic inquiry and practical implementation.

Publications on Qigong from 2005 to 2025 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed databases. Three visualization tools, R software, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace, were applied to analyze publication trends, countries, institutions, funding agencies, sources, references, keywords, and MeSH terms, encompassing descriptive indicators, network mapping, clustering, and burst detection.

Trends in annual publication outputs have shown steady growth with minor fluctuations from 2005 to 2025. China (n = 959, 55.4%) and the USA (n = 292, 16.9%) lead in Qigong research, with their institutions serving as central hubs for global academic collaboration, alongside their public funding agencies standing as the foremost contributors. Medicine (100 articles) and Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (1,748 citations) rank among the most prolific and frequently cited sources. Research hotspots primarily focus on Qigong for cognitive and physical health in geriatric populations, disease management, and quality-of-life enhancement across the lifespan. MeSH term analysis of clinical studies reveals mental and behavioral disorders as the most investigated category, with depression, fatigue, anxiety, and pulmonary diseases among the predominant conditions examined. Among Qigong modalities, Baduanjin is the most extensively studied, followed by Liuzijue and Yijinjing. In clinical trends, recent developments reveal a trajectory toward disease diversification, modality specialization, and population expansion. Since 2023, an emerging frontier has focused on college students' physical and mental wellbeing, integrating technologies such as virtual reality into Qigong interventions to enhance motivation and adherence.

Over the past two decades, global attention to Qigong has progressively expanded, marked by broad international participation alongside concentrated scholarly leadership, rooted in Qigong's cultural and historical foundations. Future investigations could further foster initiatives spanning multiple disciplines and cultures, bridging tradition and innovation to advance holistic health and wellbeing for all.