More Evidence of Differences in Peripheral Oxygenation Saturation Values Based on Skin Tone

Near-infrared pulse oximetry (SpO₂) indirectly calculates the percentage of oxyhemoglobin in the peripheral blood. Higher levels of skin melanin can result in falsely elevated values. The difference in SpO₂ values based on race was highlighted early in the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concern that it contributed to disparities in care.

Investigators retrospectively examined data for ≈3000 patients who were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) at one Boston hospital from 2008 to 2019 (i.e., prepandemic). All patients received supplemental oxygen and had arterial blood gas data. Average oximetry values were significantly higher for Black (97.6%), Asian (97.3%), and Hispanic (97.2%) patients than for white patients (96.7%). Black patients had…