['The purpose of this study is to investigate whether inconsistently reported factors influence the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcome of partial meniscectomy.', 'Short Form 36 (SF-36) data on 216 patients were retrospectively analysed for the influence of the factors age, gender and degree of cartilage degeneration. Mixed linear models were applied for univariate and multivariate analyses.', "All SF-36 scales, including the psychosocial scales, showed a significant improvement from pre- to post-operative (p\xa0<\xa00.001). The factor 'degree of cartilage degeneration' was found to significantly influence post-surgical improvement of the SF-36 'physical component summary' score. Patients with mild cartilage degeneration benefited significantly more from surgery than did patients with advanced cartilage degeneration (p\xa0=\xa00.011). Older patients had significantly lower scores on each subscale, but showed no significant age-time interaction, that is, no association was seen between age and the degree of improvement. No effect was determined for the variable gender."] Does cartilage degeneration and not age influence the health-related quality of life outcome after partial meniscectomy?