title: Portable oxygen therapy: assessment and usage.
abstract: Fifty portable oxygen assessments, based on 6-min walking tests, were reviewed to produce guidelines for assessment and prescription of portable oxygen, and to evaluate factors predicting benefit. Patients with a portable cylinder were questioned about benefits/difficulties and usage of portable oxygen. A significant improvement on the oxygen compared to the air walk was found (median 9.7%) which correlated with the oxygen desaturation on the baseline walk (r = 0.51, P less than 0.05). A placebo effect was demonstrated using an air cylinder (median improvement 6.1%). There was no correlation between improvement in walking distance and decrease in visual analogue scale (VAS) score of breathlessness. We recommend standard portable oxygen assessments based on a series of 6-min walks. Improvements of 10% in walking distance or VAS score from the oxygen to the air walk would lead to the patient being offered a portable oxygen cylinder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Medicine, London Chest Hospital, U.K.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lock
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rudd
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wedzicha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016138:Walking