Objective: To investigate the relationship between health status and family characteristics of the elderly retired from the universities in Guangzhou area. Methods: 239 elderly subjects retired from the universities in Guangzhou area were tested by the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and the Family Environment Scale-Chinese Version (FES-CV). The Canonical procedure was used for correlational analysis. Results: The relationship of health status and family characteristics was found mainly in the weary factor and intellectual-cultural orientation. The weary factor was found to negatively correlate with intellectual-cultural orientation, expressiveness, cohesion and active-recreational orientation. Conclusion: Quality of life of the elderly could be improved through preventing chronic diseases and improving family environment along the characteristics of intellectual-cultural orientation, expressiveness, cohesion and active-recreational orientation. Methods: To investigate the relationship between health status and family characteristics of the elderly retired from the universities in Guangzhou area. Methods: 239 elderly subjects retired from the universities in Guangzhou area were tested by the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and the Family Environment Scale The Canonical procedure was used for correlational analysis. Results: The relationship of health status and family characteristics was found primarily in the weary factor and intellectual-cultural orientation. The weary factor was found to negatively correlate with - CG Chinese Version (FES-CV). intellectual-cultural orientation, expressiveness, cohesion and active-recreational orientation. Conclusion: Quality of life of the elderly could be improved through preventing chronic diseases and improving family environment along the characteristics of intellectual-cultural orientation, expressiveness, cohesion and active-recreational orientation. .