In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the prevalence of polypharmacy among the older population, leading to a rise in the number of related studies. As a result, a stage analysis of its development is crucial.

To analyze the research trends and cutting-edge topics in the field of polypharmacy in the elderly from 2003 to 2022.

The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) subsets of the Web of Science Core Collection database were searched for articles and reviews about polypharmacy in the elderly published in English between 2003 and 2022. VOSviewer (v.1.6.18) and CiteSpace (v.6.1.R6) were used for bibliometric analysis.

A total of 3 987 articles were obtained, including 3 208 articles and 779 reviews. The global volume of publications has increased rapidly in the last 20 years, with the United States (1 097 articles, 27.51%) having the most publications in this field. The University of Sydney in Australia has been the most prolific institution, publishing 156 articles (3.91%), while Dr. Sarah N. Hilmer of this institution has been the most productive author with 67 publications (1.68%). Among the journals, Drugs & Aging (181 articles, 4.54%) has featured the highest number of publications related to polypharmacy in older people. The high-frequency keywords in the field included elderly, polypharmacy, prevalence, and risk, while the current emerging topics revolved around clinical outcomes and public health issues about polypharmacy in the elderly.

Over the past two decades, the field of polypharmacy among older people has experienced rapid progress, characterized by an increasing number of publications with the United States as the largest contributor. Research topics have primarily focused on the prevalence and risks associated with polypharmacy among older people, while future studies are expected to focus more on the associated clinical outcomes and public health issues.

近年来，随着多重用药在老年人群中日益常见，相关研究数量也明显上升，需要对其发展态势进行阶段性分析。

分析2003—2022年老年人多重用药领域的研究趋势及前沿热点。

检索Web of Science核心合集数据库的Science Citation Index Expanded（SCI-E）和Social Sciences Citation Index（SSCI）子集数据库，将文献类型限制为Article或Review，纳入发表时间为2003—2022年有关老年人多重用药的英文文献。使用VOSviewer（v.1.6.18）和CiteSpace（v.6.1.R6）进行文献计量学分析。

共得到3 987篇文献，其中Article 3 208篇，Review 779篇。近20年全球发文量快速增长，美国（1 097篇，27.51%）在该领域发表的文献最多。University of Sydney（156篇，3.91%）的发文量最大，该机构的Hilmer，Sarah N.（67篇，1.68%）是成果产出最多的作者。Drugs & Aging（181篇，4.54%）是收录老年人多重用药相关文献最多的期刊。该领域高频关键词主要是elderly、polypharmacy、prevalence和risk，目前的新热点是老年人多重用药相关临床后果和公共卫生问题。

近20年，老年人多重用药领域取得了飞速发展，发文量不断增长，其中美国是贡献最大的国家。研究热点主要集中在老年人多重用药的发生率及风险方面，未来的研究可能更多地围绕相关临床后果和公共卫生问题展开。