A national register for long-term oxygen therapy in chronic hypoxia: preliminary results

Abstract

A national register of patients undergoing long-term oxygen therapy in Sweden was started in 1987. Of the population of 8.4 million, 560 patients (267 males) were registered as undergoing domiciliary oxygen treatment on January 1, 1987. These registered patients, aged between 2-86 yrs (mean age 65 yrs), constituted some 90% of all patients receiving domiciliary oxygen therapy because of chronic hypoxaemia on that date. The chronic respiratory diseases leading to hypoxaemia (more than one diagnosis could be registered for each patient) were: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (393), sequelae from pulmonary tuberculosis (92), thoracic deformity (97), interstitial fibrosis (44), benign pleural disease (22) and others (84). Concentrators were used by 253 patients and high-pressure compressed gas cylinders by 307. Arterial blood gas analyses were registered for 547 patients. The mean arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) when breathing air was 6.5 +/- 1.1 kPa and 9.0 +/- 1.4 kPa when breathing oxygen. The mean arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2) without oxygen was 6.5 +/- 1.5 kPa and 6.8 +/- 1.5 kPa with oxygen. The register forms a data-base which can be used for the evaluation of different home oxygen systems, regional differences in the access to treatment and treatment performance and decisions relating to health care economics.