ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of discharge preparation service in elderly patients with chronic diseases.MethodsCNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, PubMed and EMbase databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trails (RCTs) on the discharge preparation service for elderly patients with chronic diseases from January, 2000 to January, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 7 RCTs, involving 884 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: after the hospitalization preparation service, the incidence of acute complication (RR=0.38, 95%CI 0.15 to 0.98, P=0.04), patient compliance behavior (SMD=0.54, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.83, P=0.000 3), exercise capacity (SMD=2.65, 95%CI 0.25 to 5.04, P=0.03), and nursing satisfaction (SMD=0.71, 95%CI 0.10 to 1.33, P=0.02) significantly improved. However, there were no significant differences in emergency hospital admission for acute complications (RR=0.25, 95%CI 0.06 to 1.11, P=0.07), self-care ability (SMD=2.18, 95%CI −1.02 to 5.38, P=0.18), activity of daily living (ADL) (SMD=0.56, 95%CI −0.47 to 1.59, P=0.28).ConclusionsThe current evidence shows that after implementation of the discharge preparation service, the incidence of acute complication, compliance behavior, exercise ability, and service satisfaction of the elderly patients with chronic diseases are significantly improved. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify above conclusion.