OBJECTIVES: To report results of HRQOL in Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: Adult patients >18yrs diagnosed with RA or AS were recruited through referrals by physicians in 11 cities(tier 1 and tier 2 level) in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Taiyuan, and Shijiazhuang. Patients should have worked and stayed in the city >1yr. Disease severity was classified as mild, moderate and severe based on physician’s subjective assessment. A Chinese version of the Short-Form(SF)-36 (version 2) was completed by patients. A norm-based scoring system developed from Chinese population(Hong Kong) was used to derive 8 subscales: physical functioning(PF), role-physical(RP), bodily pain(BP), general health(GH), vitality(VT), social functioning(SF), role-emotional(RE), and mental health(MH); and physical and mental component summary(PCS and MCS) scores.  Each score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing better HRQL. Descriptive statistics are presented. RESULTS: Adult patients with RA(N=250, 94 male and 156 female) and AS(N=150, 81 male, 69 female) were enrolled and completed the SF-36 questionnaire. Overall, patients demonstrated low scores (<50) in all 8 SF-36 subscales, especially in PF (31.3+16.7 vs 32.4+15.1), BP(34.7+9.4 vs 35.0+8.1) and SF(33.6+13.3 vs 33.0+12.8), for RA vs AS, respectively. The PCS and MCS scores were 35.5±10.4 and 45.3±10.4, respectively, in AS patients and 34.7±11.7 and 46.3±9.6, respectively, in RA patients. These scores decreased with increase in disease severity and age, but remained consistent with no significant differences between men and female. CONCLUSIONS: SF-36 scores in Chinese patients with RA or AS were lower compared to the general Chinese population with chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, indicating major impairment in HRQOL.