Exploring assistive technology in adaptive sports: a bibliometric analysis

Assistive technology in adaptive sports has become a transformative force for individuals with disabilities. It helps disabled athletes to overcome physical and cognitive barriers to participate in sports. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of assistive technology in adaptive sports to examine its development, key themes, and emerging trends. The analysis used data from 8,660 documents across 2,137 sources retrieved from the Scopus database from 1987 to 2025. The result shows that due to advancements in technology and increased awareness of inclusivity in sports, the research output grows exponentially after 2010. Among these research outputs, the most used theme was rehabilitation. The other emerging topics incorporated into adaptive sports are virtual reality, brain-computer interfaces, wearable technologies. Further, the co-occurrence network analysis reveals that there are strong interdisciplinary connections between rehabilitation, assistive technology, and physical activity. However, several areas remain unexplored such as digital health and telehealth applications in adaptive sports. Thus, bibliometric analysis provides a roadmap for future research by identifying critical trends and gaps. This study highlights the interdisciplinary collaboration and technological innovation in advancing accessibility and inclusivity for athletes with disabilities.