Bibliometric Evaluation of Global Tai Chi Research from 1980-2020

Author: Yanwei You1, Leizi Min1, Meihua Tang2, Yuquan Chen3, Xindong Ma1
Affiliation:
1 Division of Sport Science & Physical Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
2 School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China.
3 Institute of Medical Information/Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100020, China.
Conference/Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health
Date published: 2021 Jun 7
Other: Volume ID: 18 , Issue ID: 11 , Pages: 6150 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3390/ijerph18116150. , Word Count: 243


While studies on the health benefits of Tai Chi have sprung up over the past four decades, few have engaged in collecting global data, estimating the developing trends, and conducting reviews from the perspective of visualization and bibliometric analysis. This study aimed to provide a summary of the global scientific outputs on Tai Chi research from 1980 to 2020, explore the frontiers, identify cooperation networks, track research trends and highlight emerging hotspots. Relevant publications were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database between 1980 and 2020. Bibliometric visualization and comparative analysis of authors, cited authors, journals, co-cited journals, institutions, countries, references, and keywords were systematically conducted using CiteSpace software. A total of 1078 publications satisfied the search criteria, and the trend of annual related publications was generally in an upward trend, although with some fluctuations. China (503) and Harvard University (74) were the most prolific country and institution, respectively. Most of the related researches were published in the journals with a focus on sport sciences, alternative medicine, geriatrics gerontology, and rehabilitation. Our results indicated that the current concerns and difficulties of Tai Chi research are "Intervention method", "Targeted therapy", "Applicable population", "Risk factors", and "Research quality". The frontiers and promising domains of Tai Chi exercise in the health science field are preventions and rehabilitations of "Fall risk", "Cardiorespiratory related disease", "Stroke", "Parkinson's disease", and "Depression", which should receive more attention in the future.

Keywords: Tai Chi; bibliometric analysis; exercise and health science; visualization analysis.

PMID: 34200236 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18116150

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