Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is a common and important event in the clinical process of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is the main determinant of the prognosis in patients with COPD. Its occurrence often leads to serious of additional treatment and decline in quality of life and increase in mortality. Therefore, it is particularly important to predict and evaluate the severity of AECOPD in the early stage. At present, the severity of AECOPD patients is mainly evaluated according to their medication history, symptoms, signs, arterial blood gas analysis, pulmonary function and other relevant indicators before aggravation. In recent years, with the development of diagnostic technology, there are more and more new prognostic prediction evaluation models and biomarkers. The operation of biomarkers is easy, convenient and fast, scoring is simple, reliable and easy to operate, and lung function test is convenient, non-invasive and safe. In the process of diagnosis and treatment, clinicians should reasonably apply evaluation tools according to the specific conditions of patients, accurately evaluate and predict the initial stage of AECOPD, and timely adjust the drug regimen and implement individualized treatment, which are of great significance to the prognosis of patients.