Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top 3 causes of death worldwide and induces increased economic and social burden. Acute exacerbation of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is associated with disease progression, poor prognosis, and a decline in health-related quality of life. With the deepening of researches, especially large sample investigation and data analysis, more and more factors related to the prognosis of patients with AECOPD have been reported. We reviewed the risk factors associated with poor prognosis in patients with AECOPD including old age, low BMI, obesity, smoking history, severity of disease, previous frequency exacerbation, hypoxaemia, hypercapnia, comorbidities, and microbiology colonization/infection. In contrast, long-term inhalation therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation can improve the patient’s prognosis. The material upon which this review is based was obtained from various published literature searched in PubMed.