Home oxygen provides no survival benefit in patients with COPD and moderate hypoxaemia, nor does it reduce the rate of hospitalisations, according to findings from a potentially practice-changing study.

International researchers say there is little evidence to support the widespread use of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) or nocturnal oxygen therapy in this patient population.

Although home oxygen could still be considered in rare cases complicated by end-organ dysfunction, they called for management guidelines to be reviewed to reflect their findings.

In a systematic review and meta-analysis of six high-quality trials, the investigators used data from more than 1200 adults (mean age range 60-69) diagnosed with COPD and moderate hypoxaemia to determine whether home oxygen improved mortality and morbidity outcomes.