OBJECTIVES: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD is a rapidly growing public health problem in the United States. It is unclear how in the use of ambulatory care services or medications prescribed differ between genders. The study objective was to evaluate gender-related trends in COPD visits (physician office or outpatient department visits) from 1995 through 2004. METHODS: Outpatient visits for COPD treatment were pooled from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), to derive national estimates of ambulatory care visits.  The data was stratified by time frame and gender to perform a time trend analysis. Main outcomes of interest were to describe the number of outpatient visits for COPD and patient characteristics, co-morbidities, and medications prescribed. RESULTS: An increase in COPD-related outpatient visits was observed for both women and men from 1995 to 2004. Oral corticosteroids and short-acting bronchodilators have been the most commonly prescribed drugs for both women and men during the study period.  The use of inhaled corticosteroid decreased both in women (from 20 to 11%), and in men (from 20 to 17%) during the study period.  By 2004, outpatient visits by women surpassed those of men.  CONCLUSIONS: COPD visits have increased in both sexes, but the upward trend in visits for this condition by women indicates that COPD is no longer a male dominated disease.  Health care providers should be aware of this shift in patient demographics as well as the differences that exist between the genders in the management of COPD.