From patients to caregivers: A 38-year bibliometric study of fatigue and thematic analysis of research trends

Background Despite the increasing interest in fatigue in palliative care, the current research is dispersed across disciplines, which makes it challenging to develop unified approaches. This study employs bibliometric analysis to identify global research trends and deficiencies in the field. Methods The analysis was conducted using a systematic search of Scopus and Web of Science. 420 documents were obtained during the search and duplicate entries were identified and eliminated using specialized bibliometric software within the R programming environment, resulting in a final dataset of 398 publications. Results The analysis demonstrated that nearly 1,900 authors published in 94 academic journals from 1987 to 2025, contributing to the literature. The complexity of fatigue in palliative care settings was reflected in the identification of twelve research clusters and six main themes through thematic analysis of keywords. The current bibliometric study has identified two distinct concepts in the publications: cancer-related fatigue, which is focused on the patient, and compassion fatigue, which is related to formal caregivers. Conclusions This study emphasizes the necessity of forthcoming research to investigate underexplored areas, such as potential biological markers, psychosocial outcomes (e.g., resilience and compassion satisfaction), and management strategies.