Objective To investigate the relationship between coexisting depression and anxiety (CDA)and quality of life of female nurses in general hospitals.Methods Seven hundred and ninety-three female nurses completed Zung' s Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS),Zung' s Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the World Health Organization' s Quality of Life Questionnaire-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF).According to the cut-off scores of SDS and SAS,all subjects were divided into 4 groups (non-depression and non-anxiety,pure depression,pure anxiety,and CDA).Group differences in SDS,SAS and WHOQOL-BREF scores were compared.Results Of these 4 groups,CDA group had the highest SDS and SAS scores (P ＜ 0.001) (SDS scores:(34.3 ±5.4),(47.1 ±4.0),(39.4 ± 2.4) and (49.7 ±4.2)) and the lowest WHOQOL-BREF scores (P≤0.033)(WHOQOL-BREF physical domain scores:(15.6 ± 2.0),(13.8 ± 2.0),(13.6 ± 1.6) and (12.1 ± 2.0)).The corresponding stratification analysis (controlling for confounding factors) showed consistent results.Conclusion CDA nurses have the most severe depressive and anxious symptoms and the worst quality of life,and thus are the key target population of mental health service.