Evolution of documents related to the aquatic therapy in older adults

Introduction. Aquatic therapy combines different strategies to increase, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional capacity. This can be useful in any stage of life and can help with different types of injuries, illnesses, disorders, environmental conditions or factors that threaten movement and function. Objetive. This study aimed to carry out a bibliometric analysis related to aquatic therapy in older people. Design and Method. A bibliometric analysis through the years 1980-2024, identifying a total of 33 documents was carried out using the Web of Science Core Collection. Results. Since 1997 there has been no continuity until 2015, resulting in at least one document published per year until today, in which 2019 was the period with the largest number of studies carried out. It is observed that the number of documents increased by 39% from 1997 to today. A total of 170 authors were identified, with an average of 5.15 authors per document. Masiero, S. is the author with the largest number of documents and Agnew, W., and Barnes, A.C. with the largest number of citations. A total of 68 institutions were identified, with the “University of Padua” having the largest number of documents. A total of 15 countries were identified, 3 of which have a minimum of 5 published documents. Conclusions. We found a scarcity of studies in this area of research. The network between authors and institutions was observed, although with few associated countries. Bibliometric analysis provides pertinent information, which can support future research.