Objective To explore the impact of chronic complications of type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM)on quality of life(QOL)among T2DM outpatients in urban China.Methods A cross.Sectional study was carried Out in 1524 T2DM outpatients recruited from 15 hospitals in 4 major cities of China.Questionnaire interviews were used to collect data on general characters and complications of T2DM.SF-36 questionnaire(version 1)was used and self-completed by patients under the help from interviewers for those having difficulties in reading.T test,one-way ANOVA and generalized linear model were used to explore the association between complications of T2DM and quality of life.Results Complication Was a significant predictor leading to poorer SF-36 subscale scores(decreased by 4.68-16.06 scores)and two summary scores (PCS,MCS).The scores of role-physical subscale(decreased by 22.45％)and role-emotionsl subscale(decreased by 16.28％)decreased much more than the other subscales in patients with complication.Overall,QOI Was reduced by 11.02％in patients with complication.The QoL had a gradual decrease with the increasing number of complications.The average scores descended from 2.82 to 10.33 in the eight subscales with the increase of one complication.Conclusion Having complication or multiple complications seemed to be predietors of poor QOL among T2DM outpatients.