As one of the major global health concerns, especially with an aging population, heart failure affects millions of people worldwide with significant associated morbidity and mortality.1 Heart failure disproportionately affects older adults, and its prevalence increases with advancing age.2 Heart failure is the most common reason for hospitalization in older patients, with more than 85% of all patients hospitalized with heart failure aged 65 years and older.3, 4, 5, 6 With the aging of the world's population, increases in the number of older adults affected by heart failure are expected.

People are living longer, healthier lives due to advances in the early detection and effective treatment of commonly occurring diseases and increased longevity has led to many older adults being diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions.7 Understanding how having multiple chronic conditions adversely affects patient-centered and clinical outcomes of older adults is of considerable clinical and public health importance.8 These multiple comorbid conditions are concerning because they may precipitate acute decompensation which in turn leads to greater health care utilization and increases the risk of nonfatal complications and death.9

The objectives of this large cross-sectional study were to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of nursing home residents with heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This pulmonary condition is one of the comorbidities with the highest mortality risk among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with heart failure.9 In nursing homes, residents with COPD are more likely to have comorbid heart failure than those without COPD.10 However, little is known about the epidemiology of the co-occurrence of heart failure and COPD in older adults, especially among nursing home residents, a population often neglected in clinical research. A better understanding of the co-occurrence of COPD and heart failure in nursing home residents is needed to inform the development of new interventions, or to improve existing ones, reduce the disease burden associated with these chronic conditions among older adults, and tailor management protocols according to residents’ needs.