Bibliometric Analysis of Exercise and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the leading cause of death in the world. Pulmonary rehabilitation includes, but is not limited to, exercise training and education, which aim to improve the physical and psychological conditions of patients with chronic respiratory diseases through self-management interventions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of studies on exercise and COPD published from 2000 to 2021 using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. METHODS: All included literature was obtained from the Web of Science core collection. VOSviewer was used to analyze country or region, institution, major co-cited journals, and keywords. CiteSpace was used to analyze centrality, author and co-cited authors, journals, the strongest citation bursts of references, and keywords. RESULTS: A total of 1889 articles meeting the criteria were obtained. The United States has the largest number of publications. The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is the most influential in this field, and the most published research institution is Queen’s University. Denis E. O’Donnell has made significant contributions to exercise and COPD research. Association, impact, and statement are hot spots of research in this field. CONCLUSION: A bibliometric analysis of exercise interventions for COPD over the past 22 years provides direction for future research.