TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Solinas, Antonio
AU  -  Cortese, Stefano
AU  -  Fadda, Maria Luisa
AU  -  Carta, Rita L
T1  -  Effect of long-term oxygen therapy on survival <BR>in COPD patients with hypoxemia
PY  -  2017
Y1  -  2017-01-01
DO  -  10.1721/2662.27285
JO  -  Giornale Italiano di Farmacia Clinica
JA  -  GIFAC
VL  -  31
IS  -  1
SP  -  2
EP  -  9
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  1120-3749
Y2  -  2026/05/08
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1721/2662.27285
N2  -  Summary. Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Sixty-five million people suffer from COPD. Accepted long-term survival factors in oxygen-dependent Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) include sex, age, body mass index, comorbidities, forced expiratory volume in the 1st second and arterial blood gas tension of oxygen; the prognostic role of the arterial blood gas tension of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) in oxygen-dependent COPD remains unknown. It is shown that long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) is important for COPD patients with severe hypoxemia. Each year, more than one million patients worldwide receive LTOT. In Italy about 50 - 60.000 of patients receive LTOT and the cost is about 250.000.000 euros per year. The aim of this study is to estimate the 2-year overall survival rate and to determine the association between age, sex, PaCO2, daily duration of oxygen use and mortality in oxygen-dependent COPD with hypoxemia. Methods. We carried out a two-year overall survival analysis in patients in long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). The survey was done in the district of Sassari (Italy) in the period from January 2014 to December 2015. The results are reported using the Kaplan-Meier estimates. In addition, patients were divided into subcategories to analyse predictors of long-term survival: age, sex, PaCO2, daily duration of oxygen administration and presence of comorbidities. Results. A total of 103 patients (39.8% male) with a mean age of 79.4 ±10.0 years were recruited. Mean arterial blood gas tension of the oxygen (PaO2) was 53 mmHg. The 12-month overall survival rate was 82.7%, while the 24-month one was 73.4%. Older patients (≥79 years) had a lower survival rate than younger ones (80.5% vs. 68.4%, p= 0.073). The survival rate of women was similar than that of men (74.4% vs. 72.9%, p= 0.872). The survival rate of patients with hypercapnia (PaCO2 > 45 mmHg) was similar to that of patients with normocapnia (71.7% vs. 75%,p= 0.7746). Patients who breathed oxygen for at least 16 hours had a survival rate similar to other patients (75.9% vs. 72.5% p= 0.815). Conclusions. The 2-year overall survival rate in our study was similar to that of other studies on LTOT. Age and presence of comorbidities are predictors of long-term survival. However, sex, number of hours of oxygen breathing and hypercapnia are not strong predictors of long-term survival.
ER  -