[Research Hotspots and Trends of Multimorbidity]

Objective To clarify the hotspots and trends of multimorbidity research and to provide evidence for further research in China. Methods Papers on multimorbidity were retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science (from inception to August 11,2021).BICOMB and gCLUTO were used for bibliometric and clustering analysis,and CiteSpace was employed for analysis of authors and citations,and burst detection of keywords. Results The research on multimorbidity has been on the rise.Among the authors,Mercer SW published the most papers on this topic and Fortin M was the most cited author.Karolinska Institute topped the institutions in the number of published papers,and the paper published in Lancet by Barnett K in 2012 was the most cited.A total of 75 high-frequency keywords were extracted,on the basis of which seven research hotspots were summarized:epidemiology (including the prevalence and trend),medication (involving polypharmacy,medication compliance,etc.),medical expenditure (including cost and medical services),aging (such as elderly patients,frailty,and disability),psychology (involving mental health,social support,etc.),multimorbidity management (such as the treatment,primary health care,and integrated care),and comorbidity of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (involving obesity,stroke,diabetes,etc.). Conclusions Multimorbidity is concerned as a major health threat and public health problem worldwide.The management of multimorbidity is more complex than that of one disease,which thus faces more challenges.Therefore,researchers,health care providers,and policy-makers should underscore it.