Background: Type 2 diabetes is a serious and common chronic disease and is the most common form of diabetes. People over 60 years of age have a higher risk of developing diabetes than other age groups, and the incidence of diabetes in the elderly is increasing. The challenges facing older adults with type 2 diabetes are even more unique. Therefore, effective self-management in daily life is particularly important. However, patients encounter various types of influencing factors in their self-management practices. Each of these factors has its own characteristics, and it is important for people with diabetes to identify these factors in the actual situation, which can help patients achieve good self-management results.Aim: To investigate the influencing factors of self-management in older people with type 2 diabetes.Design: We conducted a descriptive literature review.Methods: Through a quantitative study of factors affecting self-management in older people with type 2 diabetes from PubMed. The authors compared the similarities and differences in the nine articles and summarized the results.Results: A total of nine articles described the older type 2 diabetes self management factors, and refined a major theme: self-efficacy, and three sub themes: 1) personal factors and 2) family factors and 3) social factors, and further discuss these factors on the older type 2 diabetes patients of positive and negative effects.Conclusion: The factors influencing the self-management ability of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes are multi-dimensional, complex and personal. Although these factors vary greatly from individual to individual, as nurses, we should prevent or control them through early identification and systematic intervention. Understanding these factors and establishing a scientific evaluation system are of great significance for precision medicine.