Physical Activity, Sports & Health Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2024 Oct;90:105817. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.105817. Epub 2024 Aug 17.
Multiple sclerosis is a common inflammatory neurological disease among young adults and is the tenth leading cause of the global burden of disease. Existing common treatments such as pharmacological and palliative therapies do not control the neurodegenerative process or cure multiple sclerosis. Numerous epidemiological surveys, randomised controlled trials, and systematic reviews with meta-analyses support the effects of physical activity on health-related outcomes among patients with multiple sclerosis. Moreover, bibliometric analysis can provide a broad evidence synthesis beyond systematic reviews and meta-analyses, allowing researchers and other stakeholders to obtain a one-stop overview of this research field. Therefore, this bibliometric analysis aims to provide insight into the knowledge structure of the field of physical activity for multiple sclerosis over the past three decades, and to predict emerging research trends.
This study strictly complied with step-by-step guidelines of bibliometric analysis, combining performance analysis and science mapping. Four indexes from the Web of Science Core Collection were selected as data sources, and articles and review articles in the field of physical activity for multiple sclerosis from 1994 to 2023 were included in this analysis. Mircrosoft Excel, RStudio, VOSviewer 1.6.20, and CiteSpace 6.3.R1 (64-bit) Advanced were used to perform performance analysis and science mapping.
Over the past three decades, this field published a total of 1,271 documents, with the scientific output showing a rapid upward trend over the past two decades. Robbert W Motl was the most prolific author in this field, with a total of 300 publications. The USA contributed nearly half of the publications in this field (549 documents), and the University of Illinois System was the institution with the highest number of publications (222 documents). Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders was the journal that published the highest number of documents in this field (117 documents), while more than a third of this field's publications were included in the category: Clinical Neurology (438 documents). The Reference co-citation analysis identified three main research trends, including shifts in research methodology, changes in health outcomes in randomised controlled trials, and shifts in different types of physical activity interventions. Combining the results from reference co-citation analysis and citation burst analysis, the combination of behaviour change technique and telerehabilitation may be the emerging research trend.
This bibliometric analysis identifies rapid growth in the field of physical activity for multiple sclerosis over the past two decades. Moreover, the combination of performance analysis and science mapping provides insight into knowledge structure in this field and informed future research trends for researchers and the relevant stakeholders.
多发性硬化症是一种常见的青年期炎症性神经系统疾病，也是全球疾病负担的第十大主要原因。现有的常见治疗方法，如药物和姑息治疗，并不能控制神经退行性过程或治愈多发性硬化症。众多的流行病学调查、随机对照试验和系统评价的荟萃分析都支持身体活动对多发性硬化症患者健康相关结果的影响。此外，文献计量分析可以提供比系统评价和荟萃分析更广泛的证据综合，使研究人员和其他利益相关者能够获得对该研究领域的一站式概述。因此，本文献计量分析旨在深入了解过去三十年中多发性硬化症身体活动领域的知识结构，并预测新兴的研究趋势。
本研究严格按照文献计量分析的逐步指导方针进行，结合绩效分析和科学图谱。从 Web of Science 核心合集选择了四个指标作为数据源，纳入了 1994 年至 2023 年多发性硬化症身体活动领域的文章和综述文章。使用 Microsoft Excel、RStudio、VOSviewer 1.6.20 和 CiteSpace 6.3.R1（64 位）高级版进行绩效分析和科学图谱。
在过去的三十年中，该领域共发表了 1271 篇文献，过去二十年的科学产出呈快速上升趋势。Robbert W Motl 是该领域最多产的作者，共发表了 300 篇文章。美国在该领域的出版物接近一半（549 篇），伊利诺伊大学系统是出版物最多的机构（222 篇）。多发性硬化症及其相关障碍是该领域发表文献最多的期刊（117 篇），而该领域的三分之一以上的文献属于临床神经病学（438 篇）。参考文献共被引分析确定了三个主要的研究趋势，包括研究方法的转变、随机对照试验中健康结果的变化以及不同类型的身体活动干预措施的转变。结合参考文献共被引分析和引文突发分析的结果，行为改变技术和远程康复的结合可能是新兴的研究趋势。
本文献计量分析确定了过去二十年中多发性硬化症身体活动领域的快速增长。此外，绩效分析和科学图谱的结合提供了对该领域知识结构的深入了解，并为研究人员和相关利益相关者提供了未来研究趋势的信息。
