British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults.

Hardinge M1, Annandale J2, Bourne S3, Cooper B4, Evans A5, Freeman D6, Green A7, Hippolyte S8, Knowles V9, MacNee W10, McDonnell L11, Pye K12,Suntharalingam J13, Vora V14, Wilkinson T15; British Thoracic Society Home Oxygen Guideline Development Group; British Thoracic Society Standards of Care Committee.

Author information

Abstract

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) Home Oxygen Guideline provides detailed evidence-based guidance for the use of home oxygen for patients out of hospital. Although the majority of evidence comes from the use of oxygen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the scope of the guidance includes patients with a variety of long-term respiratory illnesses and other groups in whom oxygen is currently ordered, such as those with cardiac failure, cancer and end-stage cardiorespiratory disease, terminal illness or cluster headache. It explores the evidence base for the use of different modalities of oxygen therapy and patient-related outcomes such as mortality, symptoms and quality of life. The guideline also makes recommendations for assessment and follow-up protocols, and risk assessments, particularly in the clinically challenging area of home oxygen users who smoke. The guideline development group is aware of the potential for confusion sometimes caused by the current nomenclature for different types of home oxygen, and rather than renaming them, has adopted the approach of clarifying those definitions, and in particular emphasising what is meant by long-term oxygen therapy and palliative oxygen therapy. The home oxygen guideline provides expert consensus opinion in areas where clinical evidence is lacking, and seeks to deliver improved prescribing practice, leading to improved compliance and improved patient outcomes, with consequent increased value to the health service.

Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

KEYWORDS:

Long Term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT)

PMID:: 25870317; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

-.-.-.-

National Guideline Clearinghouse | British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults.

British Thoracic Society

British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults.

Guideline Title

British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults.

Bibliographic Source(s)

Hardinge M, Annandale J, Bourne S, Cooper B, Evans A, Freeman D, Green A, Hippolyte S, Knowles V, MacNee W, McDonnell L, Pye K, Suntharalingam J, Vora V, Wilkinson T, British Thoracic Society Home Oxygen Guideline Development Group, British Thoracic Society Standards of Care Committee. British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults. Thorax. 2015 Jun;70 Suppl 1:i1-43. [154 references] PubMed External Web Site Policy