Objective To investigate the status of activity of daily life (ADL) in the elderly living in rural area of Shaanxi Pro-vince, and its relationship with common chronic diseases. Methods A total 3 307 elderly people with registered permanent residence as agricultural type were subjected from 24 administrative villages of 11 counties in Shaanxi Province by multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling. Questionnaire on ADL, including physical ADL (PADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) were used to survey their conditions. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the correlation between their ADL status and common chronic diseases. Results The dependence rate of ADL in the elderly was 34.20%(1131/3307), and that of PADL was 17.00%(526/3307), and of IADL was 33.78%(1117/3307). Logistic regression analysis showed that number of chronic diseases ≥2, coronary heart diseases, joint diseases, cataract and deafness were dependent risk factors for PADL (P<0.05), and hypertension, coronary heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), joint diseases and deafness were dependent risk factors for IADL (P<0.05) in the elderly in rural area of Shaanxi Province. Conclusion The dependent rate of ADL is quite high in the elderly in rural area of Shaanxi Province. The number of chronic diseases is not an important influencing factor for ADL. Some specific diseases, such as senile deafness, joint diseases, coronary heart disease, COPD and so on should be paid more attention to.