Progress and Hotspot of Dance Movement Therapy in Cardiovascular Disease: A Bibliometric Analysis Using CiteSpace

Abstract Background As a psychological intervention form with physical movement and emotional expression as the core, dance movement therapy not only enhances individuals’ well-being, cognitive function, and mental health, but also has potential beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. In recent years, with the growing demand for mental health services, dance movement therapy has attracted increasing scholarly attention, but its overall research landscape and evolution trend still need to be systematically examined. Purpose Based on the bibliometric method, this study systematically analyzes the current situation, hotspots and development trend of dance movement therapy research since the 21st century, providing reference and guidance for its future application in cardiovascular disease intervention, rehabilitation practice, and related research directions. Methods Drawing on data from the Web of Science Core Collection, this study selects 633 publications on dance movement therapy published between 2000 and 2025, and uses CiteSpace to analyze key bibliometric features such as publication output, core authors, and keywords. Results The study indicates that in this field has received increasing global attention. In terms of publication volume, the development of dance movement therapy has undergone a germination period, a formation period, and a rapid development period, showing a positive growth trend. Regarding core authors, the field contains a relatively large number of influential scholars, and author collaboration networks are moderately close. Concerning research hotspots, the thematic focus is relatively concentrated, primarily involving therapeutic methods, dance types, mental health, and cardiovascular health. In the keyword clustering analysis, a total of seven clusters were generated from the keywords related to dance movement therapy, such as #0 feasibility study, #1 dance movement, and #2 creative arts therapy, with relatively close relationships among the clusters. In terms of research frontiers, burst keywords such as randomized controlled trial, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, and music therapy exhibit long-lasting activity, while health, adult, and cardiovascular function demonstrate strong burst intensities. Moreover, topics such as mental health and performance are expected to remain key directions for future research in dance movement therapy. Conclusions At present, the field of dance movement therapy is developing rapidly and has accumulated a substantial body of research results, with research themes showing a trend toward increasing depth. Especially in the intervention and rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease, dance movement therapy shows potential application value. In the future, greater collaboration among researchers is needed to promote the sustained innovation and further development of dance movement therapy research.