December 18, 2020

Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): disparities

• Inpatients who identify as Black who were receiving supplemental oxygen had nearly three times the frequency of occult hypoxemia that was not detected by pulse oximetry when compared to white patients in a two separate cohorts. In a cohort from the University of Michigan, among the patients who had an oxygen saturation of 92 to 96% on pulse oximetry, an arterial oxygen saturation of less than 88% was found in 12% of arterial blood gas measurements in Black patients and in 4% of measurements in White patients. In the multicenter cohort, there was an arterial blood gas oxygen saturation of less than 88% in 17% of measurements in Black patients and in 6% of measurements in white patients.

Sjoding et al. (Dec 17, 2020). Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2029240