Bibliometric Visualisation Analysis of 20 Years of Research on Rehabilitation in Osteoarthritis Based on the Pubmed Database

Abstract

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is quite a prevalent musculoskeletal condition in which rehabilitation is often considered as the first line of treatment. With the advancement of healthcare and enhanced life span as well as the prevalence of obesity, the burden of OA as a public health concern is increasing, necessitating a thorough research in the field. Despite its widespread occurrence, rehabilitation in OA is still a contentious subject.

Objectives: The objective of the present study is to quantitatively analyze trends in OA rehabilitation publications over the past 20 years.

Methods: Relevant literature on rehabilitation in OA from the PubMed database was searched and bibliometric and visualization analyses using biblioshiny in R-Studio and VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) was conducted. A total of 998 documents were retrieved from the Pub Med database from 2005 to 2025, to highlight the current state, key focuses, and trends in rehabilitation in OA.

Results: The most relevant journals were found to be “Osteoarthritis and Cartilage” and the “BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders”. Australia and the United were the most influential countries, and the most active institute was the University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital. Author analysis revealed that Benell K L, Hinman R S, made the highest contributions. Clustering analysis of the keywords found that important research priorities were “exercise,” “knee osteoarthritis,” and “rehabilitation”  reflecting the basis of research in the field. Research related to rehabilitation in OA has grown markedly in the past two decades. While pain was a consistently dominant research focus, other topics that gained more attention during this time period were OA in females and knee osteoarthritis.

Conclusions: The findings of this study provides a context for analyzing strengths and gaps in the current state of research in this field, and for informing a comprehensive strategy for further advancing the field.