Objective To investigate the clinic effectiveness of self-managing on stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods 60 stable COPD patients were divided into the experiment group and control group according to their compliance to the management. The compliant patients (experiment group) received the rehabilitation education. They were assessed with the St. George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) before and a year after treatment. Results After treatment, the scores of activity restriction and the total score of SGRQ in the experiment group improved more than that in the control (P<0.05). Conclusion Self-management is important for improving quality of life in stable COPD.