Objective: To investigate the causes of death in patients with Parkinson’s disease at 6 hospitals in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Background: Not much literature exists on causes of death in Parkinson’s disease.

Method: Among 236 outpatients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease during the 11-year period from 2012 to 2022, we examined the cause of death and clinical information of the patients who died. Cause of death was separated into the following categories: Pneumonia, Cerebrovascular disease Ischemic Heart Disease, Gastrointestinal disease, sudden death, and others.

Results: For the 236 patients with PD (101 male and 135 female), mean age at onset was 70.3±10.0 years. This was 69.1±10.0 years for males and 71.0±9.9 years for females. Mean time since diagnosis was 7.3 years (range 0-30). This was 6.81±4.4 years for males and 7.7±5.3 years for females. During the observation period, 41 of 236 died (23 male and 18 female).The average age of those who died was 79.6±8.9. This was 78.8±7.8 years for males and 80.5±10.0 years for females. Hoehn–Yahr sage ranged from 3 to 5 (stage 3:4patients, stage4:12patients, stage5:25patients). The causes of death were pneumonia in 18, cerebrovascular accident in 4 (cerebral infarction 2, cerebral hemorrhage 1, subarachnoid hemorrhage 1), ischemic heart disease in 1, gastrointestinal disease in 2, sudden death in 7, and other causes in 9. Other causes included old age, trauma, asphyxiation, and motor neuron disease.

Conclusion: Pneumonia is the most common cause of death in Parkinson’s disease patients, and swallowing evaluation and oral care are considered important for its prevention. In addition, there were 7 cases of sudden death. Some of the cases of sudden death had a history of heart disease, but there are also cases where the cause is not clear, and investigation of the background is a future issue.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-cause-of-death-in-parkinsons-disease/