Objective To observe the status of sarcopenia in elderly patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), and to explore its effect on quality of life and mobility in COPD patients. Methods A total of 92 patients with stable COPD in the Department of Geriatrics of Ruijin Hospital from July 2019 to April 2021 were selected and divided into sarcopenia group(n=32) and non-sarcopenia group(n=60) according to the Asian diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia. General clinical data were collected. All patients completed the pulmonary function test, grip strength and 6-meter walking speed measurement. The body composition analyzer was used to measure appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM), and the limb skeletal muscle mass index(SMI) was calculated. Symptoms of dyspnea were assessed by modified Medical Research Council Scal (mMRC) and the COPD assessment test (CAT). Pearson’s method or Spearman’s method was used to analyze the correlation between skeletal muscle assessment indexes and COPD disease assessment indexes. Multivariate stepwise Logistic regression was used to analyze the effect on mobility in the COPD patients with sarcopenia. Results The incidence of sarcopenia in the COPD patients was 34.8%. Compared with the non-sarcopenia group, the patients in the sarcopenia group were older (P<0.05), and the hemoglobin, albumin, body mass index (BMI), grip strength, 6-meter walking speed, ASM and SMI were significantly lower(P<0.01). CAT score and mMRC questionnaire score were higher than those in the non-sarcopenia group (P<0.05). BMI was positively correlated with first second forced end-expiratory volume as a percentage of estimated value（FEV₁%）(r=0.376, P=0.031） and 6-meter walking speed（r=0.436, P=0.015） in both groups, and negatively correlated with mMRC（r=-0.340, P=0.032） and CAT （r=-0.354, P=0.043）. Logistic regression analysis showed that SMI was an independent risk factor for decreased quality of life and mobility in the COPD patients after adjusting for confounding factors (P<0.05). Conclusions Sarcopenia is a common complication in elderly patients with COPD and is associated with decreased quality of life and mobility.