Objective To analyze the incidence of hospital infection in 196 elderly internal medicine inpatients and the related factors. Methods A total of 196 elderly internal medicine inpatients were selected and divided into the hospital infection group and the non-hospital infection group. Clinical data of the patients were collected to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with hospital infection. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the influencing factors of hospital infection. Results Among the 196 patients, 41 (20.92%) patients developed hospital infections. The infection sites mainly included respiratory system (41.46%), urinary system (24.39%) and digestive system (19.51%). Gram negative bacteria (63.27%) were main pathogens of infection. The proportions of patients with more than 2 kinds of underlying diseases, patients undergoing invasive procedures, patients with disturbance of consciousness, malnutrition, types of antibiotics used ≥ 2 and usage time of antibiotics ≥ 10 days in the hospital infection group were higher than those in the non-hospital infection group (P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis found that having more than 2 kinds of underlying diseases, invasive procedures, disturbance of consciousness and malnutrition were risk factors for hospital infection in elderly internal medicine inpatients (P＜0.05).Conclusion Elderly internal medicine inpatients have a higher risk of hospital infections. Respiratory system, urinary system and digestive system are common infection sites. Gram negative bacteria are main pathogens of infections. Having more than 2 kinds of underlying diseases, invasive procedures, disturbance of consciousness and malnutrition are risk factors for hospital infections in elderly internal medicine inpatients