OBJECTIVES: To explore and characterize Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in a community dwelling elderly sample and to investigate the determinants of HRQoL assessed by EQ-5D-3L. METHODS: Data was collected from a sample of newly-admitted elder participants of a social program that takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This dataset includes data from 149 individuals older than 60 years, interviewed from May 2014 to November 2014. The interview comprised information on sociodemographic characteristics, life-style and general health. The HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D-3L,  cognitive impairment  was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and social support was measured using the MOS Social Support Survey (MSSS). Participants with cognitive impairment (MMSE<18) were excluded from this analysis. Exploratory analysis and literature research were used to identify potential HRQoL predictors to be included in the model. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskall–Wallis tests were applied to examine the differences in means between categories. Ceiling and floor effects, represented by the proportion of participants with the best and worst theoretical scores respectively, were also examined. EQ-5D Index Values were estimated using the weights from the Brazilian valuation study. RESULTS: The sample (n=144) is composed by 84% women, with a mean age of 70.5 years (SD=6.8). The overall utility mean was 0.76(SD=.114) and the EQ-VAS was 79.7(SD= 17.83). While floor effects found for both EQ-5D descriptive system and EQ-VAS were negligible (less than 1% in both measures), the ceiling effects were considerable (12.5% on EQ-VAS and 21.5% on Descriptive System). Men (0.81,SD=0.09) presented higher HRQoL (Z=-2.581, p=0.009) than and women (0.75, SD=0.11). Several variables were tested, but only diabetes (β=-0.05), depression (β=-0.06), back problems (β=-0.08), and cancer (β=-0.12),  integrated the final model [F=16.35 (p<0.001); df=4, df=139; adj.R=0.3004)]. CONCLUSIONS: Chronical diseases were identified as predictors of HRQoL in our sample. These results are consistent with the literature.