NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pulse oximeters are significantly more likely to miss low oxygen levels in Blacks than in whites, a new study confirms.
Using the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) registry, researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, did a retrospective study of adults with respiratory failure due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or COVID-19 who were placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
The primary analysis focused on rates of occult hypoxemia - low arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) <= 88% on arterial blood gas despite a pulse oximetry reading in the ranges of 92% to 96%.
The rate of pre-ECMO occult hypoxemia of SaO2 <= 88% was 10.2% for 186 white patients with peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) of 92% to 96%; 21.5% for 51 Black patients (P=0.031); 8.6% for 70 Hispanic patients (P=0.693); and 9.2% for 65 Asian patients (P=0.820).
Black patients with respiratory failure had a statistically significantly higher risk of occult hypoxemia with an odds ratio of 2.57 (95% confidence interval, 1.12 to 5.92) compared to white patients, Dr. Valeria Valbuena and colleagues report in the journal CHEST.
The risk of occult hypoxemia for Hispanic and Asian patients was no different to that of white patients.
