Objective To analyze the current status of frailty in the elderly diabetic population and its influencing factors. Methods A retrospective study was conducted of the clinical data of 248 elderly diabetic patients (diabetes group) admitted to the Fuyang People′s Hospital of Anhui Medical University from February 2020 to August 2022 and of 120 healthy individuals (control group) receiving physical examinations in outpatient clinic during the same period of time. Frailty assessment was performed using the FRAIL scale. Based on the FRAIL scores, the diabetic patients were divided into the frail group (n=76) and the non-frail group (n=172). SPSS statistics 22.0 was used for data analysis, and ANOVA, t test or Chi-square test were employed for intergroup comparisons, depending on the data type. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors of frailty in the elderly diabetic population. Results The FRAIL scores in both the frail and non-frail diabetic groups were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the frail group had significantly higher FRAIL scores than the non-frail group (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥70 years (OR=3.162, 95%CI 1.451-5.784; P<0.001), diabetes duration ≥10 years (OR=4.052, 95%CI 1.895-8.463; P=0.038), glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) >8.5% (OR=3.205, 95%CI 1.461-6.230; P=0.023), fasting blood glucose (FBG) ≥6.1 mmol/L (OR=2.154, 95%CI 1.032-2.964; P=0.027), nutritional risk (malnutrition) (OR=3.451, 95%CI 2.014-5.375; P=0.034) and sarcopenia (OR=2.845, 95% CI 1.032-3.748; P<0.001) were identified as the risk factors of frailty, and that good sleep quality (OR=0.851, 95% CI 0.612-0.941; P=0.018) as a protective factor against frailty in the elderly diabetic population. Conclusion The prevalence of frailty is high in the elderly diabetic patients, and its occurrence is closely associated with age, diabetes duration, blood glucose level and diabetic complications. Clinical practitioners should pay attention to these patients and take timely targeted interventions to prevent and delay the occurrence and development of frailty.