Objective  To systematically evaluate the status and influencing factors of dry skin in the elderly.

Methods  The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, CBM, VIP and Wan-Fang databases were systematically searched from the establishment of each database to June, 2023. Literature screening, quality evaluation, and information extraction were conducted independently by two researchers, and Meta-analysis of incidence and influencing factors was performed using Stata 17.0 software.

Results  19 literatures were included, all cross-sectional studies, including 69,260 elderly patients, of whom 24,580 had dry skin. The results of Meta-analysis showed that the incidence of dry skin in the elderly was 49%[95CI%(36%, 61%)]. The results of subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of dry skin was higher among elderly people in men, from nursing institutions and in the European regions. The prevalence of dry skin in the elderly was also relatively high in the literature with a sample size<1,000, and a publication year between 2012 and 2017, with the highest prevalence of dry skin in the lower extremity areas of the elderly, followed by the upper extremities, the trunk, and the head and face.

Results of Meta-analysis showed that gender [OR=0.15, 95%CI(0.04, 0.25), P=0.005], age [OR=1.43, 95%CI(1.05, 1.94), P=0.021], diabetes mellitus [OR=1.18, 95%CI(1.13, 1.23), P<0.001], cardiovascular disease [OR=1.15, 95%CI(1.11, 1.20), P<0.001], pruritus[OR=9.65, 95%CI(6.36,14.64), P<0.001], diuretics [OR=1.22, 95%CI(1.10, 1.35), P<0.001] and antibiotics [OR=1.08, 95%CI(1.03, 1.13), P<0.001] were the influential factors in the development of dry skin in the elderly.

Conclusion  Higher prevalence of dry skin in the elderly, with age, gender, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, itchy skin, and the use of diuretics and antibiotics as influencing factors for dry skin in the elderly. However, this study also has some limitations, which should be verified by further high-quality studies in the future.

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