Physical Activity of Senior Citizens: Quantitative Analysis of Literature Derived from Scopus Base

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the development of scientific output, while also to define the scope of the subject matter of research in the sphere of the physical activity of senior citizens. The research process concentrates on the following research questions: In what way has the research output developed in the field of research on the physical activity of senior citizens? Who is the principal participant (countries, universities, authors, source titles in terms of accumulating the research subject matter in a particular field? What are the prominent subject areas that attract the greatest attention among the academic environment? Research material: Scopus data was availed in the process of selecting a research sample as the source of bibliometric data. The research data (N = 415) consisted of publications which included such phrases in their contents as: “Physically Active Elderly, Physically Active Seniors, Physically Active Older Adults” in their titles or key words. The process of analysis and visualization of the findings was supported by the use of MS Excel software. Results: The research illustrated that the physical activity of the elderly is a field of science that has a long tradition. In 2011, it gained increasingly high levels of interest among the academic environment, which in turn bore fruit in terms of the breakthrough growth in the number of publications in 2014 that are indexed in Scopus data. This scientific output encompasses 20 research areas. Conclusions: The principal areas of the greatest number of publications relate to the activity of the elderly are to be found in the areas of medical science and health science. The main authors and co-authors in this field of research are as follows: the representatives of the USA, whereas the most productive research institute is The University of British Columbia. The author of the largest number of publications is Rodríguez-Artalejo from Spain. The main sponsors of research activities in the sphere of the physical activity of the elderly are the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

• physical activity
• bibliometric data
• research profiling
• senior citizens
• elderly adults