Aim: The study purpose was to investigate effects of a cognitive rehabilitation programme on cognitive function, self-management and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Background: Cognitive impairment is frequently observed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, and it interferes with many aspects of self-management, which is fundamental to disease management and quality of life.Design: The design is quasi-experimental. Methods: Data collection was performed between June 2018 and March 2019. Study participants were 60 in-or out-patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The cognitive rehabilitation programme involved six 30-min sessions administered over a period of 2 weeks and consisted of six areas: attention, memory, language, visuospatial perception, executive function and problem solving. Cognitive function, self-management and quality of life were measured at three times (preintervention and immediately and 4 weeks after intervention). Results: Cognitive function, self-management and quality of life were found to be significantly improved over time after administration of the cognitive rehabilitation programme. However, no significant improvement was observed in the control group. Conclusions: Our findings support the potential usefulness of cognitive intervention to promote cognitive function, self-management ability and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.