Prescription and usage of long-term oxygen therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Netherlands

AbstractLong-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) has been shown to improve survival in hypoxaemic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This has resulted in recommending the prescription of oxygen for at least 15 h day−1 in most European countries.In order to examine the prescription and usage of LTOT and to assess the adherence to international recommendations for its prescription, a survey was set up in a random sample of clients of the largest oxygen company in the Netherlands. After patients had been visited for an interview, additional postal surveys were sent to the physician who had prescribed LTOT and to the oxygen company.For 175 COPD patients the mean oxygen prescription and mean oxygen usage were 15·6 ± 5·8 and 14·1 ± 6·8 h day−1, respectively. In 62 patients (35%) oxygen was prescribed <15 h day−1, more often by non-chest physicians than by chest physicians (P<0·0001), and 91 patients (52%) used oxygen <15 h day−1. Of 113 patients with a prescription ≥15 h day−1, 39 (35%) used oxygen