Domiciliary Oxygen for Interstitial Lung Disease

Background: Retrospective survival data have suggested poor effectiveness of oxygen therapy in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Objectives: To determine the effect of domiciliary oxygen therapy on survival and quality of life in patients with a diagnosis of ILD and hypoxaemia.

Search Strategy: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) were identified using the Cochrane Airways Group register and the search terms: (home OR domiciliary AND oxygen AND (Interstitial lung disease OR ILD OR pulmonary fibrosis OR IPF)).

Selection Criteria: Any randomized controlled trial (RCT) in adult patients with hypoxaemia and ILD that compared long term domiciliary or home oxygen therapy with a control group.

Data Collection And Analysis: Only one unpublished RCT was identified.

Main Results: Only one trial was identified. Mortality for both the oxygen treated and control groups was approximately 91% after 3 years (Peto odds ratio 0.99, 95% confidence intervals 0.16,6.26). The effect of oxygen therapy on quality of life and physiological parameters was not reported.

Reviewer's Conclusions: The assumption that home oxygen therapy has a beneficial survival effect in patients with ILD has not been demonstrated in the single RCT identified.