Bibliometric Analysis of HIV and Exercise Literature based on Scientific Studies from 1990–2020

BACKGROUND: Exercise is believed to play an important role in maintaining functionality in patients with HIV and it is thought that researchers are increasingly interested in this field. We aimed to shed light on the historical development of research on HIV and exercise by utilizing visual mapping method. METHODS: Overall, 1051 articles retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) core database were analyzed according to the publication year and language, number of issues, citation, country collaborations, co-citation networks and concept–topic trends by using CiteSpace software. RESULTS: The United States played a key role in country collaborations, and had the highest citation burst. The most cited studies were meta-analysis studies. The studies gathered mainly around the clusters named “physical activity” and “metabolic abnormalities” meanwhile, the recent topics of research were heart failure, metabolism, comorbidity, Ethiopia, muscle, cardiovascular event and drug user. CONCLUSION: The reason why USA was found to be one of the key actors in the network is supposed to be the financial resources it can allocate for the studies conducted. It appears that the majority of the studies in the field dwell upon the impact of exercise on the physical parameters in HIV patients, whereas there are only a limited number of studies focusing on the impact of exercise on HIV-induced psychological and cognitive problems. Recent studies on neurocognitive impairment, on the other hand, are predictive of possible future popularity of such topics among researchers.