OBJECTIVES: To investigate the health status and quality of life of demented patients in Hungary, examining the correlation between disease characteristics and quality of life (QoL). Also to compare QoL results of the demented patients with the general Hungarian population's scores by age-groups. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 88 consecutive patients was conducted in 2008 involving 3 GP and 1 outpatient settings. Investigating the health related quality of life, EuroQoL (EQ-5D) questionnaire was applied and completed by assistants' guidance. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD) questionnaire were completed as well. Negatives EQ-5D scores were replaced by 0. Spearman correlation coefficients were performed. RESULTS:  Eighty-eight patients (59% female) were involved in the survey with mean age of 78 years (SD 8.5) and average disease duration of 4.3 years (SD 5.1). Mean MMSE was 16.7 (SD 7.24) and EQ-5D score was 0.401 (SD 0.327). Average EQ-5D values of the general Hungarian population aged 65-74, 75-85 and >85 years were 0.756, 0.634 and 0.629, respectively, whilst these values were 0.530, 0.424 and 0.220 in our sample. Significant correlation was observed between EQ-5D score and disease duration, MMSE score, and the time-resource utilization (physical and instrumental activities of daily living as well as supervision hours), at p=0.01. For mild (MMSE 18-23), moderate (MMSE 10-17) and severe (MMSE 0-9) dementia the EQ-5D values decreased by disease severity, with mean values of 0.56 (SD. 0.28), 0.29 (SD. 0.32) and 0.19 (SD. 0.31), respectively. Although for mild cognitive impairment (MMSE 24-30) it resulted in lower values than in mild dementia, with mean 0.53 (SD. 0.33) CONCLUSIONS: Dementia causes a significant decline in the quality of life, diminishing EQ-5D values by disease severity. EQ-5D values are remarkably lower in all age groups among demented people compared to general population.