The following is a summary of “Utility of solar-powered oxygen delivery in a resource-constrained setting,” published in the July 2023 issue of Pulmonology by Conradi, et al.
Pneumonia remains a leading cause of mortality among children worldwide, particularly in resource-constrained regions. Oxygen therapy is crucial for children with severe pneumonia and hypoxemia but is often limited in such settings. Solar-powered oxygen (SPO) has emerged as a promising solution to deliver therapeutic oxygen in resource-constrained environments. For a study, researchers sought to investigate whether the introduction of SPO2 was associated with a reduction in mortality compared to existing practices for children with severe pneumonia.
A pragmatic, quasi-experimental study design was employed to compare mortality rates in children under 5 years old with hypoxemic respiratory illness before and after the implementation of SPO2 in two resource-constrained hospitals. Participants included children admitted with acute hypoxemic respiratory illness. The intervention involved the installation of SPO2 in the two hospitals. The primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality, while secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality (time to death), length of hospital stay for survivors, duration of oxygen therapy (time to wean off oxygen), and occurrences of oxygen delivery system failure.
The study observed a decrease in mortality rates among children admitted with acute hypoxemic respiratory illness from 60% (30/50) before SPO to 30% (15/50) after SPO implementation (relative risk reduction 50%, 95% CI 19-69, P = 0.0049). Adjusted statistical models consistently demonstrated a significant reduction in mortality during the post-SPO period, and survival curves showed a significant difference between the pre-and post-SPO periods (hazard ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.20-0.74, P = 0.0043). The study also observed a decrease in interruptions to oxygen delivery due to fuel shortages and increased demand, which contributed to the reduction in mortality.
The introduction of solar-powered oxygen significantly reduced mortality among children with severe pneumonia in resource-constrained settings. The findings highlighted the potential of SPO as a life-saving technology in areas where access to oxygen therapy is limited.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2531043721002245