Outpatient Oxygen Therapy, Illness Experience, and Mental Health: Contributions in the Occupational Area

Introduction

Oxygen-Therapy is considered one of the most relevant and important therapeutic instruments for patients with chronic respiratory diseases (Ortega et al., 2014). It has been nearly 240 years since Chaussier first used oxygen on patients with dysnea and cyanotic newborns. History advances through several milestones: in 1887 Dr. Holzapple used it to treat a young man suffering from pneumonia, generating oxygen from potassium chlorate and manganese dioxide. At the end of the nineteenth century was discovered the process to produce liquid air by compression and cooling, being able to isolate oxygen by fractional distillation of liquid air. During the 20th century, beneficial effects were demonstrated for some of the most common consequences of respiratory diseases (reduction of polycythemia, reduction in the number and days of hospitalization...). In the eighties of the last century, the selection criteria basis of patients who would benefit from the use of continuous home oxygen therapy was established (Ortega et al., 2014).

Oxygen-Therapy is defined as the beneficial use of oxygen for therapeutic purposes (Jarillo, 2004). It is considered a specific intervention for the treatment of acute and chronic respiratory failure caused by different respiratory diseases (Paredes, Cruz & Aznar, 2009). This therapeutic use of oxygen consists of administering it in concentrations higher than the environmental ones, in order to treat or prevent complications resulting from hypoxia (López Riolobos et al., 2014). In acute hypoxemia its use is unquestionable as in chronic (Neves & Lobão, 2012). Hypoxemia is defined as the lowering of oxygen blood pressure as well as the deficit of hemoglobin saturation in arterial blood. It is also considered as the lack of tissue oxygen (Jarillo, 2004). Many other sources consider oxygen therapy as the most recommended treatment in ventilation/perfusion deficit (Rodríguez Ibagué et al., 2008).

The use of oxygen, once linked to technological innovation and use in professionalized spaces, is now also used in family home environments. The so-called ambulatory Oxygen-Therapy changes the traditional sense of movement, being the treatment and not the person who moves: this therapeutic practice is incorporated into the daily life of people with chronic respiratory pathologies that require oxygen treatment. This implies a series of advantages, but also drawbacks that must be taken into account. Ambulatory Oxygen-Therapy is considered an effective treatment in people with severe respiratory failure due to the results it offers in improving the quality of life of these people and reducing mortality in this type of patient (Olmedo & Sierra, 2004). As we pointed out above, this therapeutic proposal has been applied since the beginning of the 20th century; however, it was in the 1980s that the papers that established the basis for the criteria for selecting patients who would benefit from continuous administration of supplemental oxygen were published, based on two controlled clinical studies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This ambulatory Oxygen-Therapy is characterized by the fact that it allows the patient to receive supplemental oxygen during exercise and activities of daily living (Codinardo et al.,2018). This treatment aims to facilitate and enhance the functionality of the patient in their day to day, whether in the family, work, school, etc. to improve their quality of life (Díaz Lobato, García González, & Mayoralas, 2015). The relationship of Oxygen-Therapy with quality of life is a central issue in the available literature, highlighting the following elements that impact the maintenance or recovery of certain levels.