Objective To investigate the relationship between peripheral blood circularRNA oxysterol binding protein-like 2 (circOSBPL2), circularRNA catenin beta 1 (circCTNNB1) and frequent acute exacerbations of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Patients with stable COPD admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University between January 2021 and March 2023 were retrospective selected. Based on the time of acute exacerbations during the 1-year follow-up period, the included patients were divided into the frequent acute exacerbation group and the control group. The expression levels of circOSBPL2 and circCTNNB1 in peripheral blood and the clinical data of the two groups were compared. The influencing factors of frequent acute exacerbations were analyzed by binary logistic multivariate regression, and the predictive value of each indicator for frequent acute exacerbations was analyzed by receiver operator characteristic curve. Results A total of 109 patients were included. Among them, there were 42 cases in the frequent acute exacerbation group and 67 cases in the control group. The expression level of circOSBPL2 in peripheral blood and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test (CAT) score of patients in the frequent acute exacerbation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), and the expression level of circCTNNB1 in peripheral blood and serum albumin levels were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in other clinical data between the two groups (P>0.05). The results of binary logistic multiple regression analysis showed that circOSBPL2 and CAT score were risk factors for frequent acute exacerbations, and circCTNNB1 was protective a factor for frequent acute exacerbations (P<0.05). The receiver operator characteristic curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve predicted by the combination of circOSBPL2, circCTNNB1, and CAT scores was higher than that predicted by circOSBPL2, circCTNNB1, and CAT scores alone [0.948 (0.907, 0.989) vs. 0.811 (0.733, 0.889) vs. 0.833 (0.758, 0.907) vs. 0.738 (0.640, 0.835), P<0.05]. Conclusions The increase of circOSBPL2 expression and the decrease of circCTNNB1 expression in peripheral blood of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are associated with frequent acute exacerbations. CircOSBPL2 and circCTNNB1 combined with CAT score have good predictive value for frequent acute exacerbations.