The Impact of Heat Exposure on the Health and Performance of Soccer Players: A Narrative Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The impact of heat exposure on the health and performance of soccer players is a widely discussed topic. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the international literature that has addressed this issue. To achieve this objective, we initially conducted a bibliometric analysis and a literature review of the main topics that emerged through bibliometric techniques. For the bibliometric analysis, we employed VOSviewer software (version 1.6.20.0) and used documents found in the Scopus database. The analysis ultimately included 133 documents published in 66 sources. Key journals and authors were identified, highlighting significant contributions to the field. Science mapping revealed collaboration networks and research focus areas such as physical health, safety, soccer performance, dehydration and hydration, physiological mechanisms and monitoring, nutrition, fluid intake, and cooling techniques. Based on the key areas highlighted in the identified clusters, which emerged from the co-occurrence analysis of the author keywords, the following three topics were developed in the literature review: (a) the physiology and health of football players; (b) performance impacts; and (c) strategies to prevent negative consequences. The review showed that high heat exposure can reduce the physical and cognitive performance of athletes and prove detrimental to their health. To mitigate the negative consequences, appropriate hydration strategies, heat acclimatization, and cooling techniques have been proposed. Our findings provide the international scientific community with comprehensive knowledge of the existing literature, laying the foundation for future research while simultaneously offering coaches and athletes the necessary theoretical knowledge to help improve safety and performance.