Pulse Oximeters Are Less Accurate and Consistent for Black Inpatients

In critical care units, pulse oximeters are less likely to detect hypoxemia in Black patients than in white patients, and undetected hypoxemia is associated with worse clinical outcomes, including higher mortality (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 15 2022 and Crit Care Med 2022; 50:204). Are there similar disparities with pulse oximetry in patients who are not critically ill? Researchers analyzed the electronic records of all general care medical and surgical inpatients in U.S. Veterans Affairs hospitals between 2013 and 2019; they identified pairs of pulse oximeter and arterial blood oxygen readings (i.e., SpO₂ and SaO₂, respectively) taken in the same patient within 10 minutes of each other. Occult hypoxemia was defined as a pair in which the pulse ox…