Objective To investigate the mediation effect of self-efficacy on exercise perception and sleep disorder in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were recruited from the Eighth People's Hospital of Hefei.They were surveyed using the general information questionnaire,the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI),the Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale,and the COPD Self-Efficacy Scale.The influencing factors for sleep disorder were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear stepwise regression analysis.A structural equation model was established to evaluate the mediating effect of self-efficacy on exercise perception and sleep disorder.Results A total of 107 elderly COPD patients were included,with the PSQI score,Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale score and COPD Self-Efficacy Scale score of(7.69±2.86)points,(125.28±13.93)points and(80.22±12.34)points,respectively.The score of each dimension and total scores of the PSQI were negatively correlated with scores of the Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale and COPD Self-Efficacy Scale(P<0.05).Scores of the Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale and COPD Self-Efficacy Scale were influencing factors for sleep disorders in elderly COPD patients(P<0.05).Conclusion Self-efficacy play a mediating role in the relationship between exercise perception and sleep disorder in elderly COPD patients.Medical staff can improve the effect of exercise perception on sleep disorder of elderly COPD patients through enhancing self-efficacy.