• Elena Crescioli, NielsenFrederik MølgaardFM0000-0002-0071-1203Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Aalborg University Hospital, Hobrovej 18-22, 9100, Aalborg, Denmark.Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark., Anne-Marie Bunzel, Anne Sofie Broberg Eriksen, Martin Siegemund, Lone Musaeus Poulsen, Anne Sofie Andreasen, Morten Heiberg Bestle, Susanne Andi Iversen, Anne Craveiro Brøchner, Thorbjørn Grøfte, Thomas Hildebrandt, Jon Henrik Laake, Maj-Brit Nørregaard Kjær, Theis Lange, Anders Perner, Thomas Lass Klitgaard, Olav Lilleholt Schjørring, and Bodil Steen Rasmussen.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Aalborg University Hospital, Hobrovej 18-22, 9100, Aalborg, Denmark. e.crescioli@rn.dk.
• Intensive Care Med. 2024 Oct 1; 50 (10): 160316131603-1613.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate one-year outcomes of lower versus higher oxygenation targets in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe hypoxaemia.MethodsWe conducted pre-planned analyses of one-year mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the Handling Oxygenation Targets in COVID-19 trial. The trial randomised 726 ICU patients with COVID-19 and hypoxaemia to partial pressure of arterial oxygen targets of 8 kPa (60 mmHg) versus 12 kPa (90 mmHg) during ICU stay up to 90 days, including readmissions. HRQoL was assessed using EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) and 5-level 5-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L). Outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Non-survivors were assigned the worst possible score (zero), and multiple imputation was applied for missing EQ-VAS values.ResultsWe obtained one-year vital status for 691/726 (95.2%) of patients and HRQoL data for 642/726 (88.4%). At one year, 117/348 (33.6%) of patients in the lower-oxygenation group had died compared to 134/343 (39.1%) in the higher-oxygenation group (adjusted risk ratio: 0.85; 98.6% confidence interval (CI) 0.66-1.09; p = 0.11). Median EQ-VAS was 50 (interquartile range, 0-80) versus 40 (0-75) (adjusted mean difference: 4.8; 98.6% CI  - 2.2 to 11.9; p = 0.09) and EQ-5D-5L index values were 0.61 (0-0.81) in the lower-oxygenation group versus 0.43 (0-0.79) (p = 0.20) in the higher-oxygenation group, respectively.ConclusionAmong adult ICU patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxaemia, one-year mortality results were most compatible with benefit of the lower oxygenation target, which did not appear to result in more survivors with poor quality of life.© 2024. The Author(s).

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