Objective To describe the levels of self-management ability and disease-related knowledge among elderly patients with early-onset chronic kidney disease (stages 1-3), to analyze the impact of disease-related knowledge on self-management ability, and to provide evidence for targeted interventions. Methods A total of 213 elderly patients with early-stage kidney disease were investigated in terms of their disease-related knowledge and self-management ability. Results They scored 76.85±19.21 on self-management ability, showing a medium level; and 20.56±10.82 on disease-related knowledge, which was at a low level. The total score and dimension scores of self-management ability were positively correlated with disease-related knowledge （P＜0.01 for all）.Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that disease-related knowledge could explain 35.7% of the total variance in self-management ability, showing positive predictive effect （P＜0.01）. Conclusion Disease-related knowledge and self-management ability in elderly patients with early-stage chronic kidney disease need to be improved. Health education should be strengthened to enhance disease-related knowledge and self-management ability, thus to achieve health maintenance and promotion.