Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence of chronic diseases and its affecting factors among the elderly empty nesters in Nanjing city.Methods From April 2013 to March 2014,a self-designed questionnaire was used to survey 1 121 empty nesters aged ≥ 60 years recruited from communities of Nanjing city with random cluster sampling.Results The self-reported prevalence rate of chronic diseases among the elderly empty nesters was 71.0%,with the top five most prevalent chronic diseases of hypertension (48.3%),diabetes (16.8%),coronary heart (10.3%),cataract (9.2%),and hyperlipaemia (5.6%).At the ages of 70-79 years,living alone,with high frequency of taking high-fat and pickled food per week,overweight and obesity,and with less number of walking steps per week were risk factors of chronic diseases among the elderly empty nesters.The results of the self-health assessment showed that there were statistical differences in body function,daily self-care activity,and emotional personality between the elderly empty nesters with and without chronic diseases (all P<0.05).Conclusion The prevalence of chronic diseases is high and suffering from chronic disease is one of major influence factors of quality of life among the elderly empty nesters in Nanjing city.