Objective The risk factors of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) combined with failure of respiratory failure were identified by meta-analysis, so as to provide a basis for early clinical prevention and treatment failure and early intervention. Methods PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP and CBM Data were searched to collect studies about risk factors about failure of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in AECOPD and respiratory failure published from January 2000 to January 2021. Two researchers independently conducted literature screening, literature data extraction and quality assessment. Meta-analysis was performed on the final literature obtained using RevMan 5.3 software. Results Totally 19 studies involving 3418 patients were recruited. The statistically significant risk factors included Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHEⅡ) score, pre-treatment PCO2, pre-treatment pH, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), respiratory rate (RR) before treatment, body mass index (BMI), age, C-reactive protein (CRP), renal insufficiency, sputum disturbance, aspiration of vomit. Conclusions High APACHE-Ⅱ score, high PCO2 before treatment, low pH value before treatment, low GCS score, high RR before treatment, low BMI, advanced age, low albumin, high CRP, renal insufficiency, sputum disturbance, and vomit aspiration were the risk factors for failure of respiratory failure in patients with COPD treated by NIPPV. Failure of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in COPD patients with respiratory failure is affected by a variety of risk factors, and early identification and control of risk factors is particularly important to reduce the rate of treatment failure.