Abstract
Portable oxygen therapy using liquid oxygen has been available in the Madrid area since 1992 as part of a government program. The prescription of liquid oxygen theoretically requires the careful selection of patients who will benefit from a portable source of oxygen, as well as the performance of a series of treadmill tests with and without supplemental oxygen in order to assess the benefit derived from this expensive means of delivering therapy. As no studies had been done of whether these criteria for prescribing liquid oxygen were being met, we conducted telephone interviews with patients residing in the Madrid area who had portable oxygen sources at their disposal. Of a total of 190 patients, whose names were provided by oxygen supply companies, 145 could be evaluated. Liquid oxygen was not being used by 17%. Stress tests had not been performed before prescription of liquid oxygen in 65%. In conclusion, it can be suspected that a high percentage of patients receive liquid oxygen who do not meet the criteria for prescription and who have not performed the recommended tests, and that compliance is low.
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