Rui Wang, Lin-Man Weng, Meng-Si Peng, Xue-Qiang Wang
Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, 200438 Shanghai, China
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2674

Objective: To make a bibliometric analysis of global trends in research into exercise interventions for low back pain between 1980 and 2018.
Methods: Systematic literature, published from 1980 to 2018, was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace software was used to analyse the relationship between publications and country, institution, journals, authors, references, and key words.
Results: A total of 1,140 publications were included in the analysis. Over the period studied there was an increase in the number of publications. A total of 276 academic journals focused on the categories Rehabilitation, Orthopedics, and Sports Science. The USA and the University of Sydney were the most productive country and institution, respectively. Spine, which is the main journal for research into exercise for managing low back pain, had the most publications. Burst key words showed that the stability, balance, and gait of individuals with low back pain have become the research development trend and focus in this field of research.
Conclusion: Overall, studies on exercise for low back pain have increased in number in the last 4 decades. This historical overview of research into exercise interventions for low back pain will be a useful basis for further research into potential collaborators, focus issues, and development trend.

The aim of this study was to investigate the progress of global studies into exercise interventions for low back pain over the years from 1980 to 2018. The results show that the number of studies is increasing. Research into sports rehabilitation of low back pain emphasized musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Stability, balance, and gait of patients with low back pain have become the research development trend and focus in this field of research.

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