Patients with unrecognized need for COVID-19 therapy appear to have higher odds of readmission, regardless of race<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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THURSDAY, Aug. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Overestimation of oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry leads to delayed delivery of COVID-19 therapy, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ashraf Fawzy, M.D., M.P.H., from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the effect of overestimation of oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry in a cohort study including patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at 186 U.S. acute care facilities with at least one functional arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2<\/sub>) measurement. A subset of patients were admitted without immediate need for COVID-19 therapy based on pulse oximeter saturation (SpO2 <\/sub>levels of 94 percent or higher without supplemental oxygen). A total of 24,504 patients had concurrent SpO2<\/sub> and SaO2<\/sub> measurements.<\/p>\n The researchers found that pulse oximetry overestimated SaO2<\/sub> for Black, Hispanic, and other patients versus White patients (adjusted mean differences, 0.93, 0.49, and 0.53 percentage points, respectively). In a subset of 8,635 patients with a concurrent SpO2<\/sub>-SaO2<\/sub> pair without immediate need for COVID-19 therapy, Black patients were more likely than White patients to have pulse oximetry values that masked an indication for COVID-19 therapy (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.65; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.33 to 2.03). The likelihood of receiving COVID-19 therapy was lower for patients with an unrecognized need for COVID-19 therapy (aOR, 0.90; 95 percent CI, 0.83 to 0.97), and these patients had higher odds of readmission, regardless of race (aOR, 2.41; 95 percent CI, 1.39 to 4.18). Unrecognized need for COVID-19 therapy was not associated with in-hospital mortality or length of stay.<\/p>\n “Improved accuracy of pulse oximeters, which play an important role in triage and treatment decisions, is critical to delivery of timely and equitable care to patients with COVID-19,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n