Published December 31, 2023 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Assessment of Pulse Oximetry Accuracy in Detecting Hypoxemia in COVID-19 Pneumonia Patients: A Cohort Study

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Description

The accuracy of pulse oximeters in diagnosing hypoxemia, especially in COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia cases, still needs to be determined despite their critical role in monitoring COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to assess the dependability of pulse oximeters in accurately detecting hypoxemia in individuals with COVID-19 pneumonia. A study was undertaken on 40 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, in which pulse oximeter results were compared to arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis. The results of our study demonstrate a continuous overestimation of 1.77% in pulse oximetry values compared to arterial blood gas (ABG) measurements. When the threshold for SpO2 was set at less than 90%, the sensitivity and specificity were found to be 50% and 76.09%, respectively. These values slightly improved when the threshold was set at less than 92% for SpO2. The findings underscore notable constraints in utilizing pulse oximetry to identify low oxygen levels in COVID-19 pneumonia patients. This emphasizes the importance of interpreting oximeter values cautiously and advocating for more precise techniques, such as arterial blood gas (ABG) measurement, in severe situations.

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Dates

Accepted
2023-12-31
Published

References

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