Objective To analyze the test results and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria in elderly patients with respiratory tract infections, and summarize the rational use of antibiotics in elderly patients with respiratory tract infections. Methods The sputum samples of 784 elderly patients with respiratory tract infections admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to December 2020 were collected for pathogen culture and drug sensitivity test, and the test results were statistically analyzed. Results Among 701 strains of pathogenic bacteria, 497 strains were Gram-negative (G-) bacteria (70.90%), 136 strains were Gram-positive (G+) bacteria (19.40%) and 68 strains were fungi (9.70%). G-bacteria were mainly Klebsiellapneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis, accounting for 21.97% (154 strains), 18.97% (133 strains), 14.98% (105 strains) and 7.13% (50 strains). G+bacteria were mainly Staphylococcus aureus, accounting for 11.27% (79 strains). The top five antibiotics which G-bacteria resisted were ampicillin, piperacillin, compound sulfamethoxazole, cefazolin and ceftazidime.The resistance rates were 95.96%, 85.11%, 79.88%, 77.06% and 52.92%,respectively. The top five antibiotics which G+bacteria resisted were penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin and compound sulfamethoxazole, and the drug resistance rates were 95.59%, 89.71%, 84.56%, 80.15% and 75.00%, respectively. Conclusions The pathogenic bacteria in elderly patients with respiratory tract infections were mainly Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus. G-bacteria resisted ampicillin, piperacillin,compound sulfamethoxazole, cefazolin and ceftazidime the most. G+bacteria were most resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin and compound sulfamethoxazole, and were characterized by multi-drug resistance.Enhancing bacterial resistance monitoring helps guiding the rational use of drugs.