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OBJECTIVE To evaluate the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and to correlate functional capacity with quality of life (QoL) of hospitalized octogenarians. METHOD A cross-sectional study with 128 patients using the quality of life instruments WHOQOL-OLD and WHOQOL-BREF and the Katz Scale. RESULTS The majority of patients was fully dependent; patients with higher schooling had less independence; older adults with partial dependence and independence had higher scores in perceived QoL; in the domains of autonomy, past, present and future activities; and better overall QoL than those with full dependence. Partially dependent patients had higher scores in the death and dying domain than independent patients. CONCLUSION Older adults' QoL is associated with the maintenance of autonomy and functional capacity. Older adults experience a health decline during the hospitalization process, due to the limitation in performing their ADL and lack of encouragement by the health team.