In recent years, medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are widely concerned by domestic and foreign scholars. However, China started late in this field with relatively backward development. It is of significant importance for the promotion of MUPS field development in China to learn the researches on MUPS by international scholars.

To discusses the current status, research hotspots and development trends of MUPS internationally by using bibliometrics method.

The papers related to MUPS from inception to 2022-08-15 were searched based on Web of Science core collection databases from July to August in 2022. The bibliometric analysis was performed on the included papers in terms of publication volume trends and the distributions of authors, institutions and research areas after screening and data processing. CiteSpace 6.1R3 software was used to conduct visualization analysis on collaboration between countries or regions, document co-citation, keywords co-occurrence, keywords clustering, and keywords with bursts.

A total of 1 615 papers were finally included, the number of annual publications in studies regarding MUPS showed an overall upward trend from 1985 to 2022, with the most rapid growth from 2014 to 2016. ROSMALEN J G M (43 papers), WITTHOFT M (41 papers) and RIEF W (31 papers) ranked the top three authors in terms of number of publications, and the total citations of the three scholars' papers also ranks in the top 10, with 954 times, 1 275 times and 1 339 times, respectively. The top three institutions in terms of number of publications were all from the UK, including University of London (143 papers), King's College London (95 papers) and University of Manchester (84 papers). The top three countries/regions in terms of number of publications were England (422 papers), the United States (341 papers), and Netherlands (268 papers), all of which cooperated closely with other countries. A total of 75 research areas were involved in all the literature, with most studies in psychiatry (605 papers). The literature co-citation network map includes 1 393 nodes and 6 108 connections, and the paper with the highest co-citation frequency was titled Somatoform Disorders and Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Primary Care. Except of "Medically unexplained symptoms", the top five keywords in terms of occurrence frequency were "primary care" (422 times), "somatoform disorder" (405 times), "somatization" (354 times), "prevalence" (217 times) and "depression" (211 times). A total of 12 clusters were obtained by keywords clustering analysis, reflecting in the subject category and epidemiological characteristics of MUPS, key subtypes of MUPS, main treatment methods and management of MUPS. Keyword with the highest intensity of burst was "somatic symptom disorder" "children" "bodily distress syndrome" "somatic symptom disorder" and "model" have burst in recent years and persisted till now.

At present, the publications of international studies regarding to MUPS show an upward stage, with research hotspots and trends mainly focus on the sutypes of MUPS with more researches, attention to juvenile groups and creation of effective communication models, correct evaluation and long-term management of MUPS, effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for MUPS.

近年来未分化疾病（MUPS）正受到国内外学者的广泛关注，而我国在该领域的起步较晚，发展相对靠后，学习国际上学者对于MUPS的研究，对推动我国MUPS领域的发展具有重要意义。

运用文献计量学方法，探讨国际上MUPS的研究现状、研究热点和发展趋势。

于2022年7—8月，基于Web of Science核心合集数据库检索MUPS相关的文献，检索时限设定为建库至2022-08-15。经过筛选和数据处理后，对纳入的文献从发文量趋势、作者、机构、研究方向分布角度进行文献计量分析，运用CiteSpace 6.1R3软件进行国家（地区）合作、文献共被引、关键词共线、关键词聚类、关键词突现的可视化分析。

最终纳入1 615篇文献。1985—2022年MUPS领域的年发文量整体呈现上升趋势，以2014—2016年增长最为迅速。发文量排名前3位的作者分别为ROSMALEN J G M（43篇）、WITTHOFT M（41篇）、RIEF W（31篇），且3位学者论文的总被引频次也位居前10位，分别为954、1 275、1 339次；排名前3位的机构均来自英国，分别为伦敦大学（143篇）、伦敦国王学院（95篇）、曼彻斯特大学（84篇）；排名前3位的国家（地区）分别为英国英格兰（422篇）、美国（341篇）、新西兰（268篇），且均与其他国家合作紧密。所有文献共涉及75个研究方向，以精神病学方向研究最多（605篇）。文献共被引网络图谱包括1 393个节点，6 108条连线，共被引频次排名居首位的文献为Somatoform Disorders and Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Primary Care。除"medically unexplained symptoms（未分化疾病）"外，出现频次排名前5位的关键词依次为"primary care（初级保健）"（422次）、"somatoform disorder（躯体形式障碍）"（405次）、"somatization（躯体化）"（354次）、"prevalence（普遍、流行、患病率）"（217次）、"depression（抑郁）"（211次）。关键词聚类分析后共得到12个聚类，具体体现在MUPS所属学科范畴和流行病学特点、重点涉及的疾病亚种类型、主要治疗方法及管理3个方面。突现强度最大的关键词是"somatic symptom disorder（躯体症状障碍）"，最近几年突现且持续至今的有"children（儿童）""bodily distress syndrome（躯体不适综合征）""somatic symptom disorder（躯体症状障碍）""model（模式）"。

目前国际上对于MUPS的研究呈上升阶段，其研究热点和趋势主要集中在MUPS研究较多的疾病亚种类型，关注未成年人群体、创建有效沟通模式，未分化疾病的正确评估和长期管理，认知行为疗法对MUPS的治疗效果4个方面。