• Yet Hong Khor, Raymond Wong, and Christine F McDonald.
• Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia, and Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia. yethong.khor@austin.org.au.
• Respir Care. 2019 Mar 1; 64 (3): 272-278.

BackgroundHome oxygen therapy is commonly prescribed for patients who remain hypoxemic at hospital discharge, although evidence supporting this practice is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate oxygen prescription and follow-up for patients who were prescribed post-discharge short-term oxygen therapy (STOT) and to assess their long-term outcome.MethodsA retrospective audit was undertaken of subjects prescribed STOT following hospitalization at a single site in Melbourne, Australia, between January 2011 and December 2015. During the study period, a designated clinical pathway for STOT prescription and follow-up after hospital discharge was in place. Chart review was performed to collect subject demographics and comorbidities, results of oxygen assessment (arterial blood gas and 6-min walk tests) and prescription, and results at follow-up re-assessment and mortality.ResultsOver five 5 years, 205 subjects were prescribed STOT upon hospital discharge. Common indications for oxygen treatment were chronic lung disease (54%) and dyspnea palliation (26%). Of the 152 subjects who were discharged with non-palliative oxygen therapy, 28% did not fulfil the recommended prescribing criteria or did not have recommended assessments. Among the 118 subjects who returned for re-assessment 4 weeks after initial oxygen provision, 47 (40%) did not fulfill criteria for long-term oxygen therapy. The 1-y cumulative survival rate for the study population was 56%.ConclusionsA significant proportion of subjects who were prescribed post-discharge STOT did not fulfill the recommended prescribing criteria. The long-term prognosis for subjects who were prescribed post-discharge STOT was poor.Copyright © 2019 by Daedalus Enterprises.

42 keywords...

hide…