In today's cost-conscious environment, understanding the economic implications associated with disease processes and their treatments is as important as understanding their clinical impact. Medical expenditures for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the indirect costs of morbidity can represent a substantial economic and social burden. Very little economic information concerning COPD is available, however, particularly outside of a few very well-developed Western nations. This article will provide an approach for conducting high-quality studies aimed at estimating the economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and for making economic evaluations of healthcare interventions aimed at preventing and treating this disease.