Asian, Black, Hispanic Patients Have Higher Pulse Oximetry Readings

TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Asian, Black, and Hispanic patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) have higher average pulse oximetry (SpO₂) readings than White patients, and they receive less supplemental oxygen, according to a study published online July 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Eric Raphael Gottlieb, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine whether there are racial and ethnic disparities in supplemental oxygen administration associated with inconsistent pulse oximeter performance. A total of 3,069 Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White patients were admitted to the ICU for at least 12 hours before needing advanced respiratory support. The primary outcome was time-weighted average supplemental oxygen rate.

The researchers found that for a given hemoglobin oxygen saturation, Asian, Black, and Hispanic race and ethnicity were associated with a higher SpO₂ (coefficients, 0.602, 0.919, and 0.622, respectively). A lower average oxygen delivery rate was seen in association with Asian, Black, and Hispanic race and ethnicity (coefficients, −0.291, −0.294, and −0.242, respectively). Race and ethnicity were not associated with oxygen delivery rate when controlling for the discrepancy between average SpO₂ and average hemoglobin oxygen saturation. The effect of race and ethnicity was mediated by this discrepancy (−0.157).

“To date, there has been limited interest in solving the problems inherent in pulse oximeters, but we show that these measurements are clinically relevant and pose a real problem that needs to be solved,” Gottlieb said in a statement.

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