Background: With demographic and epidemiological transitions, the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising in Sri Lanka. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one main chronic NCD, the exacerbations of which are known to worsen the quality of life (QOL). Documented literature on the QOL of COPD patients is not commonly found in Sri Lanka and rarer on its exacerbations. Objective: To describe the QOL and its associated factors among patients with COPD before and after an exacerbation in Western Province of Sri Lanka Methods: A longitudinal study with two waves of data collection was done in 13 government hospitals among 289 participants in 2015. The study population included patients admitted to hospital with an exacerbation of COPD. Sample size was calculated to estimate the expected QOL in numerical scale with reference to documented global literature. The pre-exacerbation and post-discharge one month QOL was assessed using SF-36 generic QOL tool. Bivariate analysis was done followed by multivariate analysis. Results: In seven domains, there was a significant decline in QOL from pre-exacerbation to one month postdischarge (p<0.05). Further, pre-exacerbation QOL significantly correlated with post-discharge QOL in relation to five domains. Age (two domains), income (seven domains) and health infrastructure (seven domains) were significantly associated with their pre-exacerbation QOL. Younger age, higher income and better health-infrastructure are associated with relatively higher baseline. Older age, higher monthly income, better health infrastructure and less severity of the exacerbation were independent predictors of reduced QOL following an exacerbation. Conclusions: The QOL among COPD patients was relatively low compared to patients with other chronic NCDs such as myocardial infarction and stroke. The QOL in relation to several aspects worsened with exacerbations. Post-discharge QOL can be predicted with pre-exacerbation QOL for five domains of QOL.