Prevalence and risk factors for postoperative dry mouth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS: Dry mouth is a symptom of dehydration and is one of the main complications affecting postoperative outcomes and comfort. Persistent hydration may have a detrimental effect on patients' cognitive function and psychology. However, current evidence on the prevalence and risk factors of postoperative dry mouth is not fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of postoperative dry mouth and provide guidance for clinical practice

. METHODS: Systematic review and meta-analysis . PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Clinicaltrials.gov, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Database were searched. Eligible studies were assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Collected data were pooled and analyzed using Stata 15.0. A total of 11 cross-sectional studies involving

20,612 patients were included. Eight studies reported the prevalence, and the pooled prevalence of postoperative dry mouth was 76.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.664-0.858). Five studies contributed to the meta-analysis of risk factors for postoperative dry mouth. The results showed that gender (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.13-1.84, I2 ⁼ 80.2%, P = 0.006), anesthetic (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.06-2.06, I2 ⁼ 94.8%, P < 0.001), and type of surgery (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.9, I2 ⁼ 77.9%, P = 0.004) were statistically associated with postoperative dry mouth.

This study showed that the prevalence of postoperative dry mouth was high. Gender, anesthetic agents, and type of surgery are risk factors that affect postoperative dry mouth. Nurses and other health professionals should routinely assess patients for postoperative dry mouth and provide targeted interventions to alleviate patients' distressing symptoms and improve the quality of care

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