Objective To investigate the frailty status of elderly patients of diabetes mellitus (DM) and analyze its influencing factors so as to provide guidance for the intervention of frailty in the patients. Methods A total of 301 elderly DM patients who were hospitalized in endocrinological departments of eight medical centers of Chinese PLA General Hospital and Beijing Ruijing Diabetes Hospital from December 2022 to April 2023 were subjected with convenience sampling. The general data and related data of frailty were collected by face-to-face questionnaire survey. They were divided into frailty group (n=71) and non-frailty group (n=230). SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test or Fisher exact test was employed for intergroup comparison based on data type. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the influencing factors of frailty in elderly DM patients. Results Significant differences were observed in age, regular exercise, hearing impairment, fall history within one year, sleep quality, chronic complications of DM, insulin therapy, nutritional status, depression, loneliness and mild cognitive impairment between the frailty and non-frailty groups (P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that aging (OR=1.107,95%CI 1.051-1.167), malnutrition (OR=8.135,95%CI 1.680-39.399) and depression (OR=2.404,95%CI 1.156-4.998) were risk factors, while regular exercise (OR=0.265,95%CI 0.117-0.600) was a protective factor for frailty in elderly diabetic patients. Conclusion The frailty status of elderly DM patients is not optimistic. Nutrition, exercise and psychological interventions are potential intervention targets. Future studies should develop targeted intervention measures to reduce the occurrence of frailty in elderly diabetic patients.