title: When should I be considering home oxygen for my patients?
abstract: The ability to provide oxygen in a patient's home can offer enormous benefits, including improvements in life expectancy when given in the appropriate setting. Confusingly, however, home oxygen is available in many forms, including long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), ambulatory oxygen therapy (AOT), palliative oxygen therapy (POT) and short-burst oxygen therapy (SBOT)-each with varying degrees of supporting evidence. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) has recently published new guidance on home oxygen therapy, after collating the available evidence. This article aims to summarise those guidelines, focusing on who should and should not be considered for oxygen therapy. Although the BTS guidelines target a UK audience, many of the principles covered below are applicable internationally, even if the availability of certain oxygen modalities and supporting service arrangements may vary between different healthcare systems.
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Department, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Bath, UK.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suntharalingam
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Department, Respiratory SpR, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Sabrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hippolyte
authors.affiliation: Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: Vikki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Knowles
authors.affiliation: Mundesley Medical Centre, NHS England, Midlands and East, Norfolk, UK.
authors.forename: Daryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Department, Integrated Care, Kings Health Partners, King College London School of Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Irem
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Department, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Maxine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hardinge
mesh_terms: D004417:Dyspnea / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010166:Palliative Care; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014797:Vital Capacity