The prevalence of frailty and associated factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND: Frailty is increasingly recognized as an important clinical issue in patients with chronic diseases. However, evidence on the prevalence of frailty and its associated factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) complicated by coronary heart disease (CHD) remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of frailty and identify factors associated with frailty in patients with T2DM and CHD. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with T2DM and CHD recruited from the Departments of Endocrinology and Cardiology of a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China, between September and December 2025. Frailty was assessed using the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI). Data on demographic, clinical, lifestyle, and psychosocial characteristics were collected using a general information questionnaire and medical records. Univariate analyses were performed to compare differences between frail and non-frail participants, and binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with frailty. RESULTS: Among 217 participants, 43.8% were frail. Significant between-group differences were observed in age, blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, BNP, D-dimer, NLR, SIIRI, grip strength, NYHA functional class, anxiety, nutritional risk, history of PCI, number of comorbidities, and sleep duration (all P < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that blood glucose, BNP, anxiety, sleep duration, nutritional risk, history of PCI, and age were independently associated with frailty in patients with T2DM and CHD (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Frailty was common among patients with T2DM and CHD. Metabolic and cardiovascular factors, psychological and behavioral factors, and nutritional vulnerability were all associated with frailty, underscoring its multidimensional nature in this comorbid population. Early frailty screening and multidomain assessment may be important for improving the management of patients with T2DM and CHD.