ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite the growing demand for home-based medication during the COVID-19 pandemic period, there remains scarce evidence of hypoxemic infection in home-care settings. In this study, we investigated the clinical features of hypoxemic respiratory failure due to infection during the period under home-based medication (defined as 'home-care-acquired infection'). METHODS: This retrospective observational study enrolled patients with home-care-acquired infection, other than COVID-19, in two home-care clinics in Sapporo, Japan, between April 2020 and May 2021 (the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic). The participants were divided into two groups according to whether they required additional home oxygen therapy, and were compared to assess the predictors of hypoxemic respiratory failure. Furthermore, the clinical features were compared with those in patients aged >60 years with COVID-19 who were admitted to Toyama University Hospital during the same period. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients with home-care-acquired infections were included in the study (median age, 82 years). Twenty-two patients required home oxygen therapy, and 85 did not. Thirty-day mortality rates were 32% and 8%. Among the patients in the hypoxemia group, none had desired a care-setting transition, following the advanced care planning. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that initial antibiotic treatment failure and malignant disease were independently associated with hypoxemic respiratory failure (odds ratio, 7.28 and 7.10; p=0.023 and p<0.005, respectively). In comparison with hypoxemia in the COVID-19 cohort, the lower incidence of febrile co-habitants and earlier onset of hypoxemia were significant in those due to home-care-acquired infection. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that hypoxemia due to home-care-acquired infection was characterized by distinct features, possibly different from those due to COVID-19 in the early pandemic period.