title: Outpatient management of patients with bronchiolitis discharged home on oxygen: a survey of general pediatricians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the experience of general pediatricians in weaning bronchiolitis patients, treated as outpatients, from oxygen.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors surveyed members of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Community Pediatrics regarding management of outpatient oxygen for bronchiolitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey had 214 (28.4%) responses from pediatricians, of whom 172 (80.3%) practiced outpatient pediatrics. Among those, 27 (15.7%) cared for bronchiolitis patients discharged on oxygen. Pediatricians managing home oxygen practiced at higher altitude (5000 vs 339 ft, P < .001). No clear weaning protocol was reported. Over half (61.5%) of the pediatricians managing home oxygen acknowledged difficulty in deciding when to stop oxygen. A median of 2 (interquartile range [IQR] = 2-2) outpatient visits and 6 (IQR = 4-7) outpatient days on home oxygen were needed prior to oxygen discontinuation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatricians are not routinely managing home oxygen for hypoxic bronchiolitis patients. Variable weaning process, difficulties in determining oxygen stoppage, multiple follow-up visits, and prolonged home oxygen usage highlight the need to evaluate the impact of this emerging practice.
authors.affiliation: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. david.sandweiss@hsc.utah.edu
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sandweiss
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kadish
authors.forename: Kristine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000150:complications*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D007223:Infant; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States