Comparison of domiciliary oxygen using liquid oxygen and concentrator in northern Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
Long-term oxygen therapy has become standard treatment for patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency. However, patterns of long-term home oxygen therapy have not been well studied in Taiwan. Oxygen concentrator systems are commonly used in Taiwan, but liquid oxygen delivery systems are portable and may provide advantages over the concentrator system. This study compared oxygen usage between patients from a liquid oxygen group (LOG) and an oxygen concentrator group (OCG). The authors also assessed the physiologic responses of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to ambulatory oxygen use at home.


METHODS
The study used a retrospective, cross-sectional, observational survey design. The LOG comprised 42 patients, and the OCG comprised 102 patients. We recruited participants in northern Taiwan from July 2009 to April 2010. The questionnaire instruments that were used to collect data consisted of three parts: demographic characteristics, devices used in respiratory care, and activity status with portable oxygen. Two-minute walking tests were performed on COPD patients in their homes.


RESULTS
COPD was the most common diagnosis in our study, with more than 50% of patients who received oxygen long term in both groups having received this diagnosis. The LOG used oxygen for an average of 21.7 hours per day, whereas OCG averaged 15.2 hours per day (p<0.001). In the OCG, 92.2% of patients used a concentrator alone, whereas 23.8% of the LOG used liquid oxygen alone (p<0.001). The LOG patients were involved in significantly more outdoors activities (p=0.002) and reported traveling with oxygen more often (p<0.001) than the OCG patients. For patients with the same dyspnea level of COPD severity, those using liquid oxygen had a lower increase in pulse rate after the walking test, in comparison with the concentrator users.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients in the LOG used oxygen for longer hours, went on more outings, and were more likely to travel with oxygen than patients in the OCG. Being ambulatory with liquid oxygen might enable patients with COPD to walk more effectively.
School of Respiratory Therapy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Thoracic Internal Medicine, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chien-Ling
CL
Su
School of Respiratory Therapy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Thoracic Internal Medicine, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chun-Nin
CN
Lee
Department of Respiratory Care, Chang Gung University of Science and, Technology, Chiayi Campus, Taiwan.
Hui-Chin
HC
Chen
Department of Thoracic Internal Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Zhongxiao Branch, Taiwan.
Ling-Pei
LP
Feng
Department of Mathematics, Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hui-Wen
HW
Lin
School of Respiratory Therapy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Thoracic Internal Medicine, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Electronic address: llchiang@tmu.edu.tw.
Ling-Ling
LL
Chiang
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan
ambulatory oxygen; domestic activity; liquid oxygen; oxygen concentrator