ObjectiveTo systematically review the detection rate of sub-health status of Chinese college students. MethodsThe CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM, VIP, PubMed, EMbase and Web of Science databases were searched to collect cross-sectional studies on the detection rate of sub-health among Chinese college students from inception to February 1, 2023. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 17.0 software. At the same time, GIS technology was used to analyze the spatial distribution of the detection rate of sub-health status of college students in China. ResultsA total of 44 articles were included, with a total sample size of 63 435 cases, including 29 255 cases of sub-health status. The results of meta-analysis showed that the detection rate of sub-health status of Chinese college students was 51.2% (95%CI 44.1 to 58.4). The temporal distribution showed a gradual decrease in the detection rate of sub-health states among college students between 2016 and 2020, with a rebound after 2020. The detection rates of sub-health states among college students in different regions and survey instruments varied significantly, with 74.1%, 61.8%, 58.4%, 56.1%, 47.0%, 42.3% and 21.6% in Southwest, Northeast, South, North, Central, East and Northwest China, respectively. The detection rates of sub-health states among college students in Jilin, Sichuan and Hebei provinces were the top 3, and Shanxi province had the lowest detection rate. ConclusionThe detection rate of university sub-health status in China is high, and the detection rate decreased significantly from 2016 to 2020, with a rebound trend in recent years, and there are differences in the detection rate of university sub-health status in different regions and survey instruments. Due to the limitation of the quality and quantity of the included studies, the above findings need to be verified by more high-quality literature.