Bibliometric Analysis of Research on Traditional Chinese Exercise and Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease in geriatric rehabilitation medicine caused by the progressive destruction of articular cartilage. Traditional Chinese exercise (TCE) is an important component of traditional sports in China and aims to stretch the musculoskeletal tract and relieve joint pain. Bibliometrics can help researchers find suitable partners and understand the research hotspots and trends in a certain field. However, there is still a lack of bibliometric analysis in the field of TCE and OA.

All the literature was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The last search was performed on July 28, 2023. The bibliometric indicators, such as publications, citations, and H-index, were recorded. Bibliometrix and CiteSpace were used for visualization analysis. In addition, randomized controlled trials were included to summarize the exercise prescription of TCE for OA.

A total of 170 articles were included. The field of OA with TCE had great development potential and was in the rising period. The countries, institutions, and authors with the most publications were the United States, Tufts Medical Center, and Harvey WF, respectively. The most popular journal was Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. The recent burst keywords in this field were mainly "hip", "pilot", and "risk". Tai Chi was the most studied TCE with the most detailed content of exercise prescription, followed by Baduanjin and Wuqinxi.

Our study provides a basis for researchers in this field to choose appropriate partner and academic journals. Moreover, pain, muscle strength, and quality of life management of elderly OA patients are research hotspots in this field. The intervention of hip OA risk through TCE is expected to become a research direction for emerging teams. The TCE prescription we summarized can better provide researchers with more treatment details.