Objective To investigate the current status of self-management knowledge, attitude and behavior and influencing factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Qianbei area, and to analyze the influencing factors. Methods A total of 329 COPD patients were recruited and investigated with self-compiled questionnaire for self-management knowledge, attitude and behavior of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results The mean score of self-management knowledge, attitude and behavior in COPD patients was 132.6±17.0, in which the scores of each dimension from high to low were as follows: smoking, medication treatment, exercise and family oxygen therapy. The analysis of stepwise regression indicated that the main influencing factors of self-management of COPD patients were age, sex, address, degree of education, course of disease and smoking. Conclusions The self-management level of the disease recognition, attitude and behavior in COPD patients should be improved, in which the knowledge is key factor to promote the health behavior of patients. So the healthy workers should pay close attention to the influence factors and apply the new thinking pattern and methods to improve the self-management ability and the quality of life of patients.