Effects of long-term oxygen therapy on quality of life and survival in chronic airflow limitation.

Chronic airflow limitation (CAL) is a major contributor to the burden of ill-health in Australia and, where hypoxia is present, can be treated with home oxygen therapy (HOT). At Flinders Medical Centre, a prospective longitudinal study was undertaken to examine the impact of HOT on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of subjects with CAL. All eligible adult patients, aged < 80 yrs, with a primary diagnosis of CAL who met the prescription guidelines of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand were offered HOT and invited to participate. After baseline assessment, subjects were followed-up 3, 6 and 12 months after commencement of HOT. Physiological assessment and three validated HRQoL measures were applied, the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) and, for a subset of the patients, the Medical Outcomes Study short-form 36-item questionnaire (SF-36). This study reports the results from January 1, 1991 to July 31, 1997. One hundred and fourteen CAL patients were included in the study. Female subjects experienced significant improvements from baseline in the energy, emotional reactions, sleep and physical mobility areas of the NHP, in the fatigue, emotional function and mastery dimensions of the CRQ and in the role-physical, vitality, role-emotional, and mental health dimensions of the SF-36. Males experienced significant improvements in the emotional reactions, sleep and social isolation areas of the NHP, in the fatigue dimension of the CRQ and in the vitality dimension of the SF-36. Some of the improvements in the various domains persisted for > 6 months. Female patients prescribed home oxygen therapy appear to have a greater overall improvement in health-related quality of life and survival than males. Follow-up is continuing.