Objectives The aim is to determine the influencing factors of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in inpatients of cardiology. Methods A total of 200 patients hospitalised in cardiology of Peking University People’s Hospital from July 2012 to August 2012 were included. The orthostatic blood pressures were measured in supine position after resting for more than 5 minutes and at 0 min, 1 min, 2 min and 3 min after standing. OH was defined as fall in systolic BP below 20 mmHg and/or diastolic BP below 10 mmHg of baseline within 3 min in upright position. Subjects were divided into OH positive and OH negative group. Compare the baseline data, comorbidities and treatment medication differences of OH group with non-OH group, and analyse the influencing factors of OH. Results The prevalence of OH in subjects was 24%. Both the supine systolic and diastolic blood pressure were higher in OH positive group than OH negative group ( P = 0.001). The prevalence of diabetes (31.3% vs . 10.5%, P = 0.001) and stroke (27.1% vs . 9.9%, P = 0.003) was higher in OH positive group than OH negative group. The proportion of application of α receptor blockers (12.5% vs. 2.6%, P = 0.014), psychotropic drugs (16.7% vs. 5.3%, P = 0.011), Hypoglycemic drugs (27.1% vs. 10.5%, P = 0.005) and antiplatelet drugs (68.8% vs. 52%, P = 0.041) were higher in OH positive group than OH negative group. Logistic regression found that the risk of OH was related to diabetes (OR = 3.84, 95% CI 1.63∼9.043), stroke (OR = 3.469, 95% CI 1.409∼8.542),application of α receptor blockers (OR = 5.537, 95% CI 1.354∼22.643) and psychotropic drugs (OR = 3.292, 95% CI 1.035∼10.471). Conclusions OH was very common in hospitalised patients. Diabetes mellitus, stroke, and the application of α receptor blockers and psychotropic drugs may increase the risk of OH.