ObjectivesTo systematically review the risk factors of acute fatigue in patients with stroke.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to collect case-control studies, cohort studies and cross-sectional studies on the risk factors of acute fatigue in patients with stroke from inception to April, 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 14 studies involving 2 658 objects and 13 risk factors were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: female (OR=1.54, 95%CI 1.23 to 1.94, P=0.000 2), rural residence (OR=1.46, 95%CI 1.11 to 1.91, P=0.007), diabetes mellitus (OR=1.54, 95%CI 1.24 to 1.92, P<0.000 1), hyperlipidemia (OR=1.41, 95%CI 1.10 to 1.80, P=0.007), coronary heart disease (OR=1.94, 95%CI 1.30 to 2.89, P=0.001), previous stroke history (OR=1.54, 95%CI 1.07 to 2.23, P<0.000 01), pre-stroke fatigue (OR=4.51, 95%CI 3.33 to 6.09, P<0.000 01), basal ganglia stroke (OR=2.76, 95%CI 1.21 to 6.29, P<0.000 01), NIHSS >3 (OR=2.11, 95%CI 1.59 to 2.79, P<0.000 01), admission glucose level (OR=1.08, 95%CI 0.38 to 1.78, P=0.003), post-stroke sleep disorder (OR=2.40, 95%CI 1.87 to 3.07, P<0.000 01), post-stroke pain (OR=2.32, 95%CI 1.56 to 3.45, P<0.000 1) and post-stroke depression (OR=3.31, 95%CI 1.94 to 5.66, P<0.000 1) were risk factors of acute fatigue in patients with stroke.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that female, rural residence, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, previous stroke history, pre-stroke fatigue, basal ganglia stroke, NIHSS>3, admission glucose level, post-stroke sleep disorder, post-stroke pain and post-stroke depression are the risk factors of acute fatigue in patients with stroke. Medical staff should strengthen targeted preventive care for high-risk patients with related risk factors in order to reduce the incidence of post-stroke fatigue and improve the clinical prognosis outcome of patients.