Objective  To examine the status of cognition on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among middle aged and elderly community residents in Guiyang city, Guizhou province and to provide references for formulating effective intervention measures.

  Methods  We selected 2 400 permanent residents aged ≥ 45 years from 12 neighborhood committees in 6 urban districts of Guiyang city with stratified random sampling for a questionnaire survey from September 2016 to April 2017.

  Results  Of the 2 317 participants with valid responses, only 9.32% were aware of comprehensive COPD-related knowledge; the participants' awareness rates were 80.49% for air pollution being a risk factor of COPD, 91.32% for chronic cough being a typical symptom of COPD, 81.61% for the improvement of indoor air being one of the measures for COPD prevention, 70.22% for cardiovascular disease being a complication of COPD, and 61.55% for oxygen therapy for COPD treatment, respectively. Among the participants, 72.29% believed that they could see a doctor in time if they suffered from COPD; 70.65% reported acquiring COPD-related knowledge through public media including internet, newspapers, magazines, and television; and 92.15% expressed their concern on risk factors of COPD.

  Conclusion  The level of COPD-related knowledge is low and the awareness on COPD prevention and treatment is obviously insufficient among middle aged and elderly community residents in Guiyang city. The results indicate that health education on COPD prevention and treatment should be promoted in the population.