Skin colour affects the accuracy of medical oxygen sensors
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Overestimated SpO2 readings in patients with darker skin pigmentation lead to lower hospital admission, higher occult hypoxemia, delayed or no access to dexamethasone, therapeutic oxygen, and COVID-19 therapies, resulting in increased hospital readmission, organ dysfunction, and mortality.
“leading to lower hospital admission; higher occult hypoxemia; and delayed or no access to dexamethasone, therapeutic oxygen, and COVID-19 therapies, resulting in increased hospital readmission, organ dysfunction, and mortality [11-18].”
From Impact of skin pigmentation on pulse oximetry blood oxygenation and wearable pulse rate accuracy: systematic review and meta-analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [18]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPatients with darker skin pigmentation are more likely than patients with lighter skin color to have overestimated SpO2 readings.
“Patients with darker skin pigmentation are more likely than patients with lighter skin color to have overestimated SpO2 readings”
From Impact of skin pigmentation on pulse oximetry blood oxygenation and wearable pulse rate accuracy: systematic review and meta-analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [18]
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“…with lighter skin color to have overestimated SpO 2 readings, leading to lower hospital admission; higher occult hypoxemia; and delayed or no access to dexamethasone, therapeutic oxygen, and COVID-19 therapies, resulting in increased hospital readmission, organ dysfunction, and mortality [11-18].”
- Authors
- Keller, M. D., Harrison-Smith, B., Patil, C., & Arefin, M. S.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Temple University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Keller, Matthew D.
- Harrison-Smith, Brandon
- Patil, Chetan
- Arefin, Mohammed Shahriar
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2022-10-19
- Volume
- 610
- Issue
- 7932
- Pages
- 449-451
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W4306844729
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11
- FWCI
- 2.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Bioengineering › Analytical Chemistry and Sensors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Keywords
- skin pigmentation, pulse oximetry, oxygen saturation, dark skin, measurement accuracy, COVID-19 pandemic, skin colour
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Oximetry, Oxygen, Skin Pigmentation, Reproducibility of Results, Artifacts
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