The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2010 , Vol 52 , Num 3
Home Mechanical Ventilation: Outcomes According to Remoteness from Health Center and Different Family Education Levels
Pediatric Chest Diseases Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
Throughout the world, home mechanical ventilation (HMV) is being increasingly
employed to treat patients suffering from chronic respiratory failure. This
present study aimed to examine the characteristics and outcomes of 27
children seen in our department over a four-year period who were treated
with HMV. The causes of chronic respiratory failure were as follows: 16
(59.3%) neuromuscular disease, 6 (22.2%) primary respiratory diseases, 3
(11.1%) congenital heart disease, and 2 (7.4%) storage disease. The mean age
was 59.4 months (1 day-15 years); mean follow-up for invasive ventilation
was 356 (0-1200) days and for non-invasive HMV was 517 (30-1440) days.
With respect to maternal educational level, 13 had graduated from elementary
school and 14 from high school or university. Nine of our patients resided
in Ankara, while 18 lived in rural areas of Turkey. Eleven of the 27 patients
died during the HMV period (1-36 months) at home. Five patients were
weaned from HMV between 1-19 months.
Our experience showed that HMV can be applied successfully in chronic respiratory failure patients in Turkey. Length of the follow-up period and mortality rate were not affected by the patient’s place of residence (city center or rural) or maternal level of education.
Keywords : non-invasive home ventilation, invasive home ventilation, childhood, parental educational level, outcome.