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Quality control of equipment in home mechanical ventilation: a European survey

¹ Unitat Biofisica i Bioenginyeria, Facultat Medicina, Universitat Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona, and ⁴ Unitat Funcional Interdisciplinaria Sociosanitaria Respiratoria, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. ² Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and ⁸ Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Trust, London, UK. ³ University Hospital, Pisa, Italy. ⁵ Hôpital Armand Trousseau, Paris, and ⁶ Association Lyonnaise de Logistique Hospitaliere, Lyon, France. ⁷ Oststadtkrankenhaus, Klinikum Hannover, Hannover, Germany.

CORRESPONDENCE: J. A. Wedzicha, Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Dominion House, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE, UK. Fax: 44 2076018616. E-mail: J.A.Wedzicha@qmul.ac.uk

Keywords: Chronic respiratory failure, healthcare assessment, home-care monitoring, home therapy, noninvasive ventilation

Received: June 7, 2004
Accepted October 13, 2004

Quality control of the equipment used in home mechanical ventilation is necessary in order to ensure that patients safely and accurately receive the prescribed ventilatory support. The aim of this study was to carry out a survey on the quality-control procedures in different centres and countries.

The survey was carried out in the context of a European Commission Concerted Action covering 16 European countries. The study was extensive and detailed, involving 326 centres, which provided home ventilation to >20,000 patients.

The survey showed that: 1) ventilator servicing was mainly carried out by external companies (62% of centres), with a servicing frequency ranging 3–12 months; 2) interaction between servicing companies and prescribers was limited (only 61% of centres were always informed of major incidents); 3) participation of centres in equipment quality control was poor (only 56% of centres assessed that patients/caregivers correctly cleaned/maintained the ventilator); and 4) centres were insufficiently aware of vigilance systems (only 23% of centres). Moreover, the data showed considerable inter- and intra-country differences. The size of the centre was an important determinant of many of these quality-control aspects.

This survey provides information that will enable the European Commission Concerted Action to formulate recommendations on procedures for home-ventilator quality control.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R Farre, D Navajas, E Prats, S Marti, R Guell, J M Montserrat, C Tebe, and J Escarrabill Performance of mechanical ventilators at the patient's home: a multicentre quality control study Thorax, May 1, 2006; 61(5): 400 - 404. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]