Objective To investigate the correlations between dysphagia and physical disabilities in order to provide reference for occurrence of dysphagia in frail elderly inpatients. Methods A total of 422 frail elderly patients hospitalized in the Second Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from February to October 2019 were subjected in this study. According to Fried frailty phenotype criteria, they were divided into pre-frailty group and frailty group. They were also assigned into dysphagia group and normal swallowing group based on the results of water swallow test. Short physical performance battery (SPPB) was employed to assess lower extremity functioning in them, including body balance, walk speed and chair-stand time. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the associations of dysphagia with above indicators. SPSS statistics 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. Chi-square test or student′s t test was employed to make intergroup comparison depending on different date types. Results There were 278 patients in the pre-frailty group and 44 patients in the frailty group, and 58 patients in the dysphagia group and 264 patients in the normal swallowing group. The SPPB score, score of standing for 10 s with feet in tandem position, score of walk speed in a 4-meter walk, and score of time to rise from a chair for 5 times were (6.31±2.69), (2.39±1.37), (2.28±1.12) and (1.10±0.21) points in the dysphagia group, respectively, significantly lower than those in the normal swallowing group [(8.48±2.77), (3.42±1.17), (2.70±1.22) and (2.36±1.09) points; all P<0.05)]. Dysphagia was negatively correlated with above 4 scores (r=-0.263, -0.142, -0.127, -0.293; all P<0.05). Conclusion Decline in physical performance, including decreased body balance, reduced walk speed and longer chair-stand time, might be indicators for dysphagia in frail elderly patients.