Ethics in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Global Research Trends and Thematic Structure—A Bibliometric and Science-Mapping Analysis

Background: Ethical issues in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) span autonomy, disability rights, decision-making, and equitable access. This study mapped the bibliographic and conceptual structure of the ethics-related PM&R literature. Methods: Web of Science Core Collection records published through 2025 were retrieved using PM&R-related terminology and field-restricted ethics terms. The refined search identified 110 records. Following post hoc eligibility reassessment, one veterinary rehabilitation publication was excluded, yielding 109 records for the primary bibliometric analysis. Publication characteristics, citation patterns, and standardized keyword networks were examined. Sensitivity analyses assessed keyword-source selection, keyword-frequency thresholds, and the exclusion of five potentially overlapping publications. Results: The primary dataset comprised 109 indexed records published between 1986 and 2025, including 94 Articles, 12 Reviews, and three records with dual Article/Proceedings Paper classification. These publications received 1918 citations (h-index: 23). The keyword co-occurrence network contained 35 standardized terms and 187 links, forming five thematic communities encompassing care and rehabilitation access, palliative care and participation, informed consent and decision-making capacity, disability and quality, and physicians and AIDS. The sensitivity dataset contained 104 records and 1909 citations, with 33 keyword nodes and 180 links; five thematic communities remained identifiable. Conclusions: The findings characterize recurrent concepts within a defined bibliographic corpus rather than the entire PM&R ethics literature. The broad thematic structure was retained in sensitivity analysis, although publication indicators and detailed network characteristics were affected by potentially overlapping records.