Contributions of the Cybathlon championship to the literature on functional electrical stimulation cycling among individuals with spinal cord injury: A bibliometric review.

• The Cybathlon championship was held in 2016, which contributed significantly to the literature on functional electrical stimulation cycling published in 2017, immediately following the year of the championship. • Most studies on Cybathlon reported that training was the topic of most interest. The studies highlighted training parameters that the teams focused on in order to maximize their functional electrical stimulation-cycling performance at the Cybathlon championship. • Most of the published Cybathlon studies originated in European countries, closely followed by studies from Asian countries, South American countries, the United States, and Australia. • The geographical distribution of Cybathlon studies indicates that functional electrical stimulation evoked cycling is well-researched throughout the world and is well-accepted across different cultures. Due to its clinically proven safety and health benefits, functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling has become a popular exercise modality for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Since its inception in 2013, the Cybathlon championship has been a platform for publicizing the potential of FES cycling in rehabilitation and exercise for individuals with SCI. This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of the Cybathlon championship to the literature on FES cycling for individuals with SCI 3 years pre and post the staging of the Cybathlon championship in 2016. Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant studies published between January 2013 and July 2019. The quality of the included studies was objectively evaluated using the Downs and Black checklist. A total of 129 articles on FES cycling were retained for analysis. A total of 51 articles related to Cybathlon were reviewed, and 14 articles were ultimately evaluated for the quality. In 2017, the year following the Cybathlon championship, Web of Science cited 23 published studies on the championship, which was almost 5-fold more than that in 2016 (n = 5). Training was most often reported as a topic of interest in these studies, which mostly (76.7%) highlighted the training parameters of interest to participating teams in their effort to maximize their FES cycling performance during the Cybathlon championship. The present study indicates that the Cybathlon championship in 2016 contributed to the number of literature published in 2017 on FES cycling for individuals with SCI. This finding may contribute to the lessons that can be learned from participation in the Cybathlon and potentially provide additional insights into research in the field of race-based FES cycling. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]