As global quality of life has improved, the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases have gradually increased in prevalence. People have consequently sought to improve their health through physical exercise. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) tool that has been of great interest for several years. However, its feasibility and safety remain controversial. This study aimed to explore hot research topics and new directions regarding the role of HIIT in CR and to describe the dynamic development of the field. We used the Web of Science Core Collection database to develop visualizations using CiteSpace software (v.6.1.R2). The number of articles published, institutional collaboration networks, author partnerships, and keyword co-occurrence and clustering were used to analyze the impact of HIIT on CR. Our results showed that Norway, Canada, and the United States were the most prominent contributors to this field. Articles by Nigam, A and Juneau, M had the highest number of citations. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology had performed the most in-depth research in this area. The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology had published the most articles. The United States had the highest number of publishing journals. Relevant issues focused on coronary artery disease, exercise capacity, heart failure, cardiorespiratory fitness, and physical activity. HIIT in heart transplantation may be at the forefront of research in this field and future studies should focus on this topic. HIIT-based CR can therefore improve the exercise capacity and quality of life of cardiovascular patients and improve patient compliance in a safe manner.
Keywords: CiteSpace; bibliometrics; cardiac rehabilitation; cluster analysis; co-citation analysis; high-intensity interval training.