Physical Therapy in Neurorehabilitation with an Emphasis on Sports: A Bibliometric Analysis and Narrative Review

Abstract

The increasing interest in physical therapy in sports neurorehabilitation stems from the high incidence of neurological injuries among athletes and the crucial role of rehabilitation in facilitating their safe return to sports. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of research trends in physical therapy and neurorehabilitation in athletes. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of 103 documents from the Scopus database, followed by a narrative review of the identified thematic areas. Together, these approaches offer a comprehensive overview of the international literature on the application of physical therapy in sports neurorehabilitation, highlighting key trends and contributors. The software VOSviewer and Power BI (2.136.1202.0) were used for the bibliometric analysis and the visualization of the results. Techniques such as performance analysis (documents per year, top sources and countries in documents, and top authors in citations) and science mapping (co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, co-citation, and co-occurrence) were conducted. The results revealed the journals and the authors with the greatest impact in the field and collaborations between various countries. From the co-occurrence analysis of the keywords, three key thematic clusters were identified, Clinical Approaches and Outcomes in Neurorehabilitation, Athlete-Centered Neurorehabilitation Techniques, and Specialized Interventions in Sports Medicine and Neurorehabilitation, which were used to conduct the narrative review. These findings provide a solid foundation for future research and clinical practice aimed at enhancing recovery times and overall performance in athletes with neurological injuries.

Keywords

• neurological injuries
• athlete rehabilitation
• VOSviewer
• performance analysis
• science mapping
• clustering