Pulse Oximeters, Used to Fight COVID-19, May Be Inaccurate on | COVID-19 Up

Pulse Oximeters, Used to Fight COVID-19, May Be Inaccurate on People of Color: FDA

@COVID19Up: Pulse oximeters, medical devices used in battling COVID-19, may not work effectively on people of color, according to health officials.

The small devices clamp onto a patient's finger and measure oxygen levels in blood. During the pandemic, they've been used by people at home and in hospitals to monitor COVID-19 patients as the virus attacks the lungs, often leading to a drop in oxygen levels.

"The devices may be less accurate in people with dark skin pigmentation," The U.S. FDA said in a statement on Friday.

Black patients are nearly three times as likely to have dangerously low blood oxygen levels go undetected by pulse oximetry compared with white patients, the FDA said, citing December research.
SOURCE | TIP

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