OBJECTIVE: Normative data using the MOS SF-36 generic questionnaire are available in general population and in different diseases. Less data exist for older hospitalized patients and presenting acute or chronic disorders. The aim of this survey is to examine health-related quality of life, as measured by the MOS Short-Form-36 across patient population hospitalized for different medical conditions. METHOD: Patients hospitalized in internal medicine unit of a Parisian university hospital and of a suburb general hospital were asked to complete the French version of the MOS SF-36 questionnaire, 4 days or more after their entry. One of us ensured that all items were correctly responded. Demographic data were also recorded. More than 300 patients are expected to be enrolled. Item scaling and scoring are those specified by the instrument developers. A physical component summary and a mental component summary scores are also computed. RESULTS: Currently, more than 230 questionnaires have been completed. Except for AIDS and tuberculosis, patients were old and were presenting diseases such as cardiovascular (chronic heart failure), pulmonary (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia), cerebrovascular (stroke), neoplasms and iatrogenic. Considering the age of patients and the associated handicaps, many patients were unable to complete the questionnaire alone or with proxy (coma, mental confusion, dementia, chronically bedridden, linguistic barrier). Scores are compared according to diseases and broken down by age, sex and other demographic data. CONCLUSION: Some hypotheses are formulated such as : physical function will be more impaired in chronic heart failure and in COPD, emotional function will be altered in AIDS, women will have more impaired quality of life scores and generally older patients will have a low score of social function. The MOS SF-36 questionnaire is easy to administer. But for many hospitalized patients, it is impossible to evaluate their quality of life.