Background and importance Oxygen is a dangerous medication because of its oxidising properties. Its use can be difficult for patients with respiratory insufficiency. Because of the impact on quality of life, oxygen dependent patients have low therapeutic adherence. This can lead to an increase in rehospitalisations and comorbidities. We have proposed educational sessions about the proper use of oxygen for these patients.

Aim and objectives The aim of the study was to build educational sessions and assess their impact on patient knowledge.

Material and methods The course was a collaboration between pharmacists, pulmonologists, physiotherapists, nurses and an oxygen provider service. It dealt with pathophysiology, oxygen safety, different types of equipment and travelling with oxygen. The sessions took 2 hours, once a month, and involved all patients receiving oxygen therapy in the institution. A hospital pharmacist and a pharmacist from the oxygen provider service moderated the course. Surveys were given to patients during these session to characterise the population, to measure the improvement in their knowledge before/after the course and to assess their satisfaction.

Results We collected data from 43 patients. Mean age was 66.1 years and the sex ratio was 1.26. A total of 67.4% of patients used liquid equipment, 74.4% for at least 1 year: 48.8% of patients were hospitalised for pulmonary causes during the last year, 60.5% of patients had never had any education about oxygen therapy and 32.6% went out without their oxygen.

The progression of patients was 4.6 points out of 20 after the educational sessions. The difference was significant (p<0.01, unilateral Student’s test, paired values). All patients were satisfied with the educational sessions but 20.9% said they had concentration difficulties.

Conclusion and relevance Oxygen is a treatment with limited compliance due to its impact on the quality of life of patients. The use of this essential medication must be considered at risk because it requires safety information and can cause disorders if misused. The results of this study highlight the interest in educational sessions for patient care.

References and/or acknowledgements 1. Jacobs SS, Lindell KO, Collins EG, et al. Patient perceptions of the adequacy of supplemental oxygen therapy. Ann Am Thorac Soc 2018;15:24–32.

No conflict of interest.