Objective To investigate the clinical relationship between the expression level of serum microRNA-130a(miR-130a)and the poor short-term prognosis of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD).Methods 85 patients with AECOPD admitted to the Wuhan Third Hospital and 66 patients with stable COPD who were followed up in the outpatient department from June 2019 to June 2021 were selected as AECOPD group and COPD group,respectively.Another 70 healthy individuals were selected as the control group in the same period.The expression levels of serum miR-130a were detected in all three groups.According to the 28-day prognosis of AECOPD patients,they were divided into a good prognosis group and a poor prognosis group,and the relationship between serum miR-130a expression levels and the prognosis of AECOPD patients and the predictive value of this indicator were analyzed.Results The expression levels of serum miR-130a in the AECOPD group and COPD group were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05),and the expression level of serum miR-130a in the AECOPD group was higher than that in the COPD group(P<0.05).The incidence of poor prognosis in 85 AECOPD patients 28 days after admission was 41.18%.Older age,smoking history,coronary heart disease,low arterial oxygen partial pressure,high serum miR-130a expression level and mechanical ventilation were all risk factors for poor short-term prognosis of AECOPD patients(P<0.05).The sensitivity,specificity and the area under the curve of serum miR-130a expression level in predicting the poor short-term prognosis of AECOPD were 85.71%,74.00%and 0.813,respectively.Conclusion The level of serum miR-130a in AECOPD patients is highly expressed and closely related to the short-term prognosis.It is a risk factor for poor short-term prognosis and has a certain predictive value for poor short-term prognosis.