Objective: We carried out a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a home hospitalization (HH) program for patients hospitalized for exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Patients and methods: Patients who were clinically stable and had stable arterial blood gases were randomized to the conventional hospitalization group or the HH group.
Results: Of the 88 patients evaluated, 40 (20 in each group) were enrolled. No differences were observed in baseline characteristics, in clinical recovery, or arterial blood gases between the 2 groups at discharge. At 1-month follow up there were no differences in mortality or in the number of readmissions. The mean length of hospitalization in patients with HH was 9.2 days (4 days in hospital and 5 days at home), compared to 12.2 days in patients with conventional hospitalization.
Conclusions: Our results show that a hospital-supervised HH program including the participation of pneumologists and nursing staff allows for the recovery of patients hospitalized for exacerbation of COPD who have stable symptoms and arterial blood gases with no increase in the rate of readmission, relapse, or therapeutic failure.