Guo Wei, Feng Xiaowei, Du Weiping
School of Physical Education, Ningxia Normal University, Guyuan, China; Center for Sports and Health Research, Ningxia Normal University, Guyuan, China.
School of Physical Education/School of Football, Hainan Normal University, Hainan, China.
J Rehabil Med. 2025 Apr 29;57:jrm42473. doi: 10.2340/jrm.v57.42473.
Aquatic exercise therapy has gained recognition as a valuable non-pharmacological intervention for managing musculoskeletal disorders. Despite the growing body of evidence supporting its efficacy, research on aquatic exercise therapy remains fragmented, with limited understanding of key trends, influential studies, and evolving themes within the field. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to identify publication trends, key authors, and the evolution of research themes in aquatic exercise therapy for musculoskeletal disorders.
A total of 117 articles were selected based on predefined search terms and inclusion criteria, resulting in 3,985 citations, with an average of 35.9 citations per article and an H-index of 37.
Publications surged between 2013 and 2024, accounting for 88.3% of total output. Peaks occurred in 2019 (n = 14) and 2022 (n = 368 citations). Key contributors include Mariana Arias Avila and Basia Belza, with journals such as BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders and Arthritis & Rheumatism-Arthritis Care & Research playing pivotal roles. Research trends shifted from disease-specific studies to broader quality-of-life outcomes, with keywords such as "rheumatoid arthritis", "balneotherapy", and "quality of life" emerging as focal points.
The findings underscore the growing importance of aquatic exercise therapy in clinical rehabilitation and suggest that future research should focus on long-term outcomes, underrepresented populations, and the integration of aquatic exercise therapy with emerging rehabilitation technologies.
水上运动疗法已被公认为是一种用于管理肌肉骨骼疾病的有价值的非药物干预措施。尽管支持其疗效的证据越来越多，但关于水上运动疗法的研究仍然零散，对该领域的关键趋势、有影响力的研究以及不断演变的主题了解有限。本研究旨在进行全面的文献计量分析，以确定针对肌肉骨骼疾病的水上运动疗法的出版趋势、关键作者以及研究主题的演变。
根据预先确定的检索词和纳入标准，共筛选出117篇文章，得到3985次引用，平均每篇文章35.9次引用，H指数为37。
2013年至2024年间出版物数量激增，占总产出的88.3%。峰值出现在2019年（n = 14）和2022年（n = 368次引用）。主要贡献者包括玛丽安娜·阿里亚斯·阿维拉和巴西亚·贝尔扎，《BMC肌肉骨骼疾病》和《关节炎与风湿病-关节炎护理与研究》等期刊发挥了关键作用。研究趋势从针对特定疾病的研究转向更广泛的生活质量结果，“类风湿性关节炎”、“温泉疗法”和“生活质量”等关键词成为焦点。
研究结果强调了水上运动疗法在临床康复中日益重要的地位，并表明未来的研究应关注长期结果、代表性不足的人群以及水上运动疗法与新兴康复技术的整合。
