In this work we analyse the behaviour of 22 members of the RS CVn family whose absolute parameters are known by observation. We have carried out a study in comparison with detached and normal-evolution systems in order to obtain some general properties of this group of active binaries and test the evolutionary status. A comparison with evolutionary tracks of several metallicities and helium contents shows that there is a trend in these stars to have metal abundances equal to or larger than the solar one. The results are discussed in the light of the peculiar characteristics of this kind of binaries.