Under continuous laser irradiation, the damage threshold of fused silica and other optical materials will continue to decrease, showing the “fatigue effect”, which seriously affects the life and stability of the repetition frequency optical system. This paper introduces the performance under fatigue effect of optical materials mainly fused silica materials, supplemented by several other typical optical materials (bismuth niobate crystal, lithium triborate crystal and HfO₂/SiO₂ multilayer film). The effects of laser wavelength, spot diameter, laser frequency and material position on fatigue effect are summarized. Two modes of fatigue effect are introduced: statistical false fatigue and material modified true fatigue. Three main mechanisms of fatigue effect are introduced: absorption defect model, bond-breaking model and coloured center model. Two experimental modes in fatigue experiment are compared, and their advantages and disadvantages and applicable research objects are analyzed. Finally, the present research status of this field are summarized, and the future development trend and directions are prospected.