Scientific literature landscape analysis of researches on rehabilitation in scoliosis over the last 30 years

Background: This study systematically present the overall landscape and evolutionary trends of international research in the field of scoliosis rehabilitation over the past 30 years. Methods: This study used the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) database of the Web of Science Core Collection as the data source. Target literature was screened according to pre-set criteria, and bibliometric analysis platforms, VOSviewer 1.6.11 and CiteSpace software 6.1.R6 were employed to conduct a quantitative analysis and visual presentation of annual publication volume, citation frequency, core authors, institutions, countries, research directions, funding sources, and journal distribution. Results: The results showed that the United States and China were the major contributing countries in this field. A total of 308 valid documents were included, with 4,333 total citations, 14.07 citations per paper on average, and an H-index of 35. Negrini S, Italian Spine Science Institute, the United States, Orthopedics, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Spine ranked first in terms of publication output, citations, core research directions, funding, and journals, respectively. Conclusions: Keyword clustering analysis indicated that adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) guidelines, and Asian adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were core topics in the field, representing future research hotspots. Meanwhile, the burst intensity of keywords such as Cobb angle, posterior spinal fusion, and risk factors increased significantly, suggesting that surgical treatment and its safety are becoming frontier research trends.