Evaluating the Accuracy of Pulse Oximetry in Children According to Race
Authors:
Open Access
- 1 May 2023
- journal article
- letter
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in JAMA Pediatrics
- Vol. 177 (5) , 540-543
Abstract
Several studies using large retrospective electronic health record (EHR) data sets have found that pulse oximetry may overestimate actual blood oxygen levels in Black patients with hypoxemia more often than in White patients.1-3 If true, a commonly used medical device could systematically mislead clinicians to undertreat hypoxemia in Black patients, a flaw with substantial implications for health care equity and outcomes.4 However, prior EHR-based studies are limited by imprecise linkages between pulse oximetry values and blood gas laboratory results obtained up to 10 minutes apart.1-3 There are also few studies of race and pulse oximetry in children.3Keywords
This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Racial bias and reproducibility in pulse oximetry among medical and surgical inpatients in general care in the Veterans Health Administration 2013-19: multicenter, retrospective cohort studyBMJ, 2022
- Association of Race With Pulse Oximetry Accuracy in Hospitalized ChildrenJAMA Network Open, 2022
- Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry MeasurementNew England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Maximizing the Laboratory Setting for Testing Devices and Understanding Statistical Output in Pulse OximetryAnesthesia & Analgesia, 2007