Parkinson’s disease (PD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are chronic and progressive conditions that frequently coexist in geriatric populations, which increases the risk of disability and mortality. Both conditions share overlapping risk factors that may potentiate effects on health outcomes. Despite their clinical relevance, national data examining mortality trends due to PD and COPD remain scarce.

Data from the CDC WONDER database (1999–2020) were analyzed for PD- and COPD-related mortality among adults aged 65-85 years. The ICD-10 codes G20 (PD) and J40–J44 (COPD) were employed. Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates (AAMR) per 100,000 were used to calculate Annual Percent Change (APC) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) stratified by year, sex, race/ethnicity, urbanization status and census region using Jointpoint regression. 

From 1999 to 2020, 48,296 PD and COPD-related deaths occurred among adults aged ≥65 years. The overall AAMR increased from 5.3 to 7.01 (AAPC: 0.91; p<0.01). Men observed higher overall AAMR (8.72) than women (3.15). Among different races, NH Whites had the highest overall AAMR at 5.7, while NH Blacks had the lowest at 2.41. Regionally, the highest overall AAMR was in the Midwest (5.81), followed by South (5.53), West (5.29), and Northeast (4.35). Non-metropolitan areas had higher AAMR than Metropolitan areas (6.67 vs 5.03). States that fell in the top 90th percentile were West Virginia, Vermont, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

Our findings demonstrate that PD–COPD–related mortality has increased among U.S. older adults throughout the study timeframe, revealing persistent sex, racial, and geographic disparities. These findings emphasize the need for preventative respiratory care in neurologically vulnerable patients through integrated geriatric care and continued surveillance.