Objective To understand the perception of prehabilitation in elderly patients with early lung cancer, so as to provide a reference for developing prehabilitation programs for this population. Methods The descriptive qualitative study method was utilized, and 15 elderly patients with early lung cancer who had received prehabilitation education before surgery were purposively selected to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews, then the interview data were summarized and themes were refined by using content analysis. Results A total of four themes were refined:the intention of prehabilitation (positive attitude, willing to try and accept, and lack of behavioral motivation), the advantages of prehabilitation (conducive to adapting to surgery, and improving postoperative outcomes), the obstacles of prehabilitation (environmental facilities barriers, safety problem, and insufficient preparation time), and the needs of prehabilitation (information consultation needs, improvement program needs, and contact support needs). Conclusion The elderly patients with early lung cancer are prone to accept prehabilitation, which is conducive to accelerating recovery after surgery. Medical staff should conduct personalized education to promote implementation of patient prehabilitation, develop elderly-oriented prehabilitation program, and improve the contact support system, so as to further increase the suitability of prehabilitation.