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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
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Home-Based Prescribed Pulmonary Exercise in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: August 24, 2019
Does palliative home oxygen improve dyspnoea? A consecutive cohort study
1Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia. david.currow@flinders.edu.au
Palliative Medicine
|March 24, 2009
Summary
Palliative home oxygen, often prescribed for breathlessness, did not significantly improve symptoms for most patients in a large study. Further research is needed to confirm its effectiveness in managing dyspnoea.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care
- Respiratory Medicine
- Symptom Management
Background:
- Palliative oxygen therapy is commonly used for refractory dyspnoea.
- Prescription criteria often focus on survival, not symptomatic relief.
- The impact of palliative home oxygen on breathlessness is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effect of palliative home oxygen on symptomatic breathlessness.
- To identify factors predicting response to oxygen therapy in palliative care patients.
Main Methods:
- A 4-year cohort study of 413 palliative care patients in Western Australia.
- Compared breathlessness scores (0-10) before and 1-2 weeks after oxygen initiation.
- Used multivariable logistic regression to analyze responders.
Main Results:
- No significant overall improvement in breathlessness scores at 1 or 2 weeks post-oxygen initiation (P=0.28).
- Only 36.3% (150/413) of patients experienced >20% improvement in dyspnoea scores.
- Neither diagnosis nor demographic factors predicted response to oxygen therapy.
Conclusions:
- Oxygen prescribed solely for breathlessness in predominantly cancer patients does not improve symptoms for the majority.
- Prospective randomized trials are necessary to determine oxygen's efficacy in managing breathlessness in cancer and non-cancer populations.
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