OBJECTIVE: Demographic, clinical, social and economic factors influence the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and must be assessed in the management and treatment of diverse prostate cancer (PC) patients. The study objective is to analyze the variations in QoL of newly diagnosed PC patients over the course of three months between public and private facilities. METHODS: A total of 316 newly diagnosed PC patients recruited from the urology clinics of a private urban academic hospital and a veterans hospital completed SF-36 and UCLA-PCI prior to treatment, and at 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: General and Prostate-Specific QoL and demographics were compared across public and private facilities using t-test and chi-sq. Demographic characteristics varied significantly between the two groups. Privately-treated patients were predominantly Caucasian (83.68%), whereas publicly-treated patients were predominantly African American (66.23%, p <0.0001). Privately-treated patients had significantly higher income and education levels, and were significantly more likely employed and married (61.35% vs. 20.00%; 54.59% vs. 14.29%). Baseline mean scores of general QoL demonstrated that publicly-treated patients were substantially less healthy by physical, psychological and social measures (mean physical function score of 47.53 compared to 70.46 for privately-treated patients (p <0.0001)). This was true for the PC-specific HRQoL also, though the differences were smaller. After three months, the mean scores for both groups declined from baseline levels though the groups' relative divergence narrowed. Publicly-treated patients remained substantially less healthy as indicated by general HRQoL scores. However, for PC-specific QoL, their means scores on sexual and urinary function, and sexual and urinary bother were significantly higher than privately-treated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline and 3-month HRQoL of newly diagnosed PC-patients vary across different treatment settings. Further analysis into the baseline determinants of QoL and their effect on subsequent changes in QoL are crucial for effective management of prostate-cancer. Acknowledgement: Supported by the DOD Prostate Cancer Research Program DAMD17-02-1-0126