The Efficacy of Long Term Oxygen Therapy in COPD

OBJECTIVE: The effects of long term oxygen therapy (LTOT) on the quality of life and survival of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with respiratory failure, and the compliance to LTOT were investigated in this prospective cohort study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-four COPD patients, in whom LTOT was indicated, were recruited to the study between February 2006 and July 2007. Patients received two follow-up visits at 5 and 10 months, and were followed for approximately 19 months. Echocardiography was performed and the dyspnoea score (Medical Research Council, MRC) and St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were applied at the initial and follow-up visits. In addition, the duration of oxygen treatment and indication for maintenance of LTOT was evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 64 years; 7 were female and 47 were male. The mean duration of oxygen treatment prior to the first and second follow-up visits were 9.8 and 10.6 hours, respectively. The percentage of effective LTOT use (15 hours or more) at the first and second follow-up visits was 31% and 46%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival of patients who were using effective and ineffective oxygen treatment. The mean baseline pulmonary arterial pressure showed a significant decrease from 50 mmHg at baseline to 40mmHg at the second follow-up visit in patients using effective LTOT (p=0.01). The symptom scores of SGRQ at the second follow-up visit were higher than the baseline values (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: In the present study, patient compliance to LTOT was low. Although there was a decrease in pulmonary artery pressure, and an improvement in the life quality of patients as a result of LTOT use, LTOT had no effect on the survival of patients.