To systematically evaluate the effects of diversified systemic nursing on periodontal health in elderly people.

Randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of diversified systemic nursing on periodontal health in the elderly population were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, China Biomedical Literature Database, CNKI, and Wanfang databases, with a timeframe from the inception of the database to October 2023. Meta-analysis was performed with RevMan version 5.4 software.

Eleven randomized controlled trials were included, and the results of Meta-analysis showed that plaque index (PLI; -1.04 [-1.53, -0.54], P<0.001) and sulcus bleeding index (SBI; -0.86 [-1.57, -0.14], P = 0.02) were significantly improved at 3 months of diversified systemic nursing, but the improvement of probing depth (PD; -0.78 [-1.59, 0.03], P=0.06) was not significant. At 6 months of intervention, the PLI (-1.35 [-2.60, -0.11], P=0.003), SBI (-1.12 [-2.11, -0.12], P=0.03), and the treatment efficacy for periodontitis (3.75 [1.68, 8.38], P=0.03) were all improved significantly, but the PD did not improve significantly (-0.25 [-0.69, 0.19], P=0.27). At 12 months of intervention, the improvement of PLI was not significant (-2.29 [-5.88, 1.29], P= 0.21).

Diversified systemic nursing significantly improves PLI and SBI at 3 and 6 months post-intervention in the elderly population, and improves the treatment efficacy for periodontitis at 6 months post-treatment; however, the improvement in PLI at 12 months post-intervention and periodontal PD at 3 and 6 months need to be further demonstrated. More high-quality randomized controlled trials should be conducted to further validate the impact of diversified systemic care on periodontal health in elderly people.