No Advantage Seen With Long-Term Oxygen Therapy for 24 Versus 15 Hours/Day
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2024 -- For patients starting long-term oxygen therapy for chronic, severe hypoxemia at rest, the risk for hospitalization or death within one year is comparable with long-term oxygen therapy for 24 or 15 hours per day, according to a study published online Sept. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the European Respiratory Society Congress, held from Sept. 7 to 11 in Vienna.
Magnus Ekström, M.D., Ph.D., from Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues compared the risk for hospitalization or death at one year with long-term oxygen therapy for 24 versus 15 hours per day among patients who were starting oxygen therapy for chronic, severe hypoxemia at rest. Patients were randomly assigned to receive long-term oxygen therapy for 24 hours (117 patients) or 15 hours (124 patients) per day.
The researchers found that the risk for hospitalization or death within one year was not lower in the 24-hour versus the 15-hour group (mean rate, 124.7 and 124.5 events per 100 person-years, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.99; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.72 to 1.36; P = 0.007 for nonsuperiority). No substantial difference was seen between the groups in the incidence of hospitalization for any cause, death from any cause, or adverse events.
"This trial has direct clinical implications. The findings support that there is no clear disadvantage of supplemental oxygen use for 15 hours per day rather than 24 hours per day in terms of reducing the risk of hospitalization or death within one year," the authors write.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2024
Read this next
Air Pollution Exposure Negatively Impacts Some Domains of Cognitive Performance
TUESDAY, April 15, 2025 -- Air pollution is associated with domain-specific impacts on cognitive performance in older adults, according to a study published online March 17 in The...
Older Adults Have Low Knowledge of RSV Disease and Vaccine Eligibility
MONDAY, April 7, 2025 -- Knowledge of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease and RSV vaccine eligibility is low among hospitalized older adults, according to a study published...
ACP: AI Recommendations More Often Better Quality for Virtual Care Visits
MONDAY, April 7, 2025 -- Artificial intelligence (AI) recommendations are more often rated as better quality than final recommendations of physicians for virtual care visits made...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.