OBJECTIVES: This review aims to identify risk factors for mortality among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: We searched PubMed database using the terms: “pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive”, “mortality”, “risk factors” and “predictor”. We included only studies among patients with a primary diagnosis of COPD and excluded non-English publications, literature reviews or editorials. RESULTS: We initially identified 335 articles, among which 60 articles met inclusion criteria. We found seven additional studies from the references. Key risk factors for mortality (# significant vs non-sigificant studies)  were: 1) Forced expiratory volume per second (FEV1) (14 vs 19) , dyspnea (3 vs 4), partial arterial carbon dioxide tension (5 vs 12), and partial pressure of oxygen (5 vs13); 2)Charlson comorbidity index (7 vs 8); 4) disease severity index: Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease stage (3 vs 2) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Education II score (3 vs 1); 5) quality of life (QoL): St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire score(6 vs 2); 6)malnutrition: Body mass index (BMI) (7 vs 22) and Fat free mass index (2 vs 2); 7) previous hospitalization (10 vs 5); 8) inflammatory marker (7 vs 3); 9) Age (26 vs 18) and smoking (5 vs 8). Only 9 studies implemented a multidimensional risk indexes (MRIs) such as the BODE (BMI, Obstructive, Dyspnea, and Exercise Capacity) index, REFI (Respiratory Functional Impairment) index and PILE (FEV1%, interleukin-6, and knee extensor strength) score, and all studies found that MRIs were predictive of mortality HADO score and PILE score, which displayed more strength and advantage in predicting mortality than using the single factor as no study was found where use of an MRI was not predictive. CONCLUSIONS: Age, QoL, previous hospitalization, comorbidities, and inflammatory markers were more consistently found to be risk factors. Multidimensional risk scores should be used to assess mortality risk when possible.