Objective: To figure out the latest incidence rate of pneumonia after post-stroke-dysphagia (PSD), related literature was included, then a meta-analysis was completed.

Methods: Articles on the incidence rate of pneumonia after PSD was searched by manual and electrical databases. Data were selective by screening the abstract, browsing the full text according to diagnostic criteria, and extracting the data on incidence rate of pneumonia. Subsequently, a meta-analysis was performed using Stata 16.

Results: 1900 studies were initially retrieved and 14 studies met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis after extraction. The meta-analysis showed that the pooled incidence rate of pneumonia was 39% and the overall effect was 11.046 with high heterogeneity (I2>75%) using random effects. Furthermore, the incidence rate of pneumonia in the dysphagia group was 4.39 times higher than in the non-dysphagia group, with medium heterogeneity I2=60.5%. To find the heterogeneity, a subgroup analysis was carried out and the results indicated that the incidence rate of pneumonia was 37% in the prospective group and 26% in the retrospective group, but all with high heterogeneity (I2>75%). Finally, the combined incidence rate of hospital-acquired pneumonia was 0.26 without heterogeneity, which could be associated with sources and types of literature.

Conclusion: Our results have analyzed the incidence rate of pneumonia after PSD in 14 related literature, and the results showed that there was a 39% incidence rate of pneumonia in PSD patients, which might have certain guiding significance for early treatment and prognosis of pneumonia.