Nada A Alsaleh

Abstract

Home oxygen therapy - often abbreviated as HOT - refers to the basic treatment used among patients with acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The treatment is suitable for use among patients with resting hypoxemia. The objective of this research was to assess the risks, adherence, benefits, as well as the perception of HOT. The primary risk identified in this research relates to burns developing among patients on HOT. In all the studies included in this review, the most popular reason for burns was smoking while on HOT. It is clear from this study that HOT increased the rate of survival among COPD patients diagnosed with mild to moderate and acute hypoxemia. This research recommends the need for more investigation to be carried out to identify additional benefits of participating in HOT. It was evident that patients who were trained on HOT clearly understood the benefits of oxygen and had a superior rate of adherence to this form of treatment compared to those who did not receive any form of training. The outcome of most studies showed positive experiences among patients on HOT. However, the experiences of the patients differed and a few of them reported having negative perceptions. In general, additional scholarly work is needed to examine the thoughts of the patients on HOT and the factors allied to those perceptions. This study can be useful in improving the clinical practice of HOT.