ObjectivesTo review the value of sleep deprivation EEG methodology in the diagnosis of epilepsy.MethodsSuch databases as Pubmed, MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, Wanfang, VIP and CNKI Data are searched electronically and comprehensively for literature on the diagnosis of epilepsy by sleep deprivation EEG from inception to January 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. Then, meta-analysis was performed using Stata software.ResultsA total of 14studies involving 1221 patients were included in total. The results of meta-analysis showed that: Duration of sleep deprivation and effect value of positive rate [ r=0.670, 95%CI (0.664, 0.696), P<0.001 ], duration of the awake period records and effect value of positive rate [ r=0.659, 95%CI (0.596, 0.722), P<0.001 ], duration of sleep period records and effect value of positive rate [ r=0.67, 95%CI(0.619, 0.721), P<0.001 ], with significant differences.ConclusionsThe duration of sleep deprivation, the awake period records, and the sleep period records of sleep deprivation EEG examination, sleep deprivation time between 16 h to 24 h, the awake recording time ≥30 min, and the sleep recording time ≥ 60 min (≤ 3 h) can obviously improve the positive rate of sleep deprivation EEG.