Long-term home care programmes may reduce hospital admissions in COPD with chronic hypercapnia

Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) has been shown to improve survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The clinical effectiveness of long-term home mechanical ventilation (HMV) is still discussed, nevertheless both LTOT and HMV are often included in the home care programmes of these patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of home care programmes including either HMV or LTOT, 34 COPD patients were studied. They were admitted to either HMV (Group A: 12 males and 5 females, aged 62 +/- 5 yrs), or LTOT (Group B: 9 males and 8 females, aged 62 +/- 8 yrs). They were compared to a historical group (Group C: 19 males and 10 females, aged 67 +/- 16 yrs) performing only their usual standard LTOT during the same period. Spirometry, maximal inspiratory pressure and arterial blood gas values were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12 and 18 months of follow-up. Mortality rate and number of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and days of hospitalization were also assessed. Four out of 17 (23%) patients in Group A, 3 out of 17 (18%) in Group B, and 5 out of 29 (17%) in Group C died within 18 months. Of the lung function tests, only maximal inspiratory pressure in Group A showed a significant increase in the 18th month (50 +/- 4 to 56 +/- 7 cmH2O; p<0.01). In comparison to 18 months prior to the study, hospital admissions (from 2.2 +/- 0.6 to 1.3 +/- 1.1 and from 2.0 +/- 0.7 to 1.0 +/- 0.9 for Group A and B, respectively; p<0.005 for both), and days of hospitalization (from 60 +/- 34 to 34 +/- 40 and from 55 +/- 23 to 18 +/- 20 days in Group A and B, respectively; p<0.005 for both) significantly decreased only in the two groups submitted to the home care programme. We conclude that home care programmes may be effective in the long-term treatment of chronically hypercapnic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in reducing hospital admissions.