Objective To investigate the effect of diabetes on short-term prognosis of transient ischemic attack (TIA) in elderly patients.Methods From January 2006 to June 2010,126 patients with TIA aged over 60 years were selected.Patients were divided into diabetic group and non-diabetic group according to past history,blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels.The cumulative ischemic stroke incidences were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis 30 days and 90 days after the first TIA.The risk factors for short-term stroke after TIA were analyzed by Cox regression analysis.Results Among 126 patients with TIA,31 cases (24.6％) had diabetes.The cumulative ischemic stroke incidences were significantly higher in diabetic group than in non-diabetic group 30 days and 90 days after the first TIA (54.8％ vs.22.1％,61.3％ vs.28.4％,both P＜0.01).Cox regression analysis revealed that diabetes and cerebral arterial stenosis were the risk factors for recurrent stroke within 90 days.Conclusions The short-term stroke incidence is significantly higher in elderly diabetic patients than in non-diabetic patients.Diabetes is the independent risk factor for recurrent stroke after TIA.