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09/01/26

The association of skin pigmentation with pulse oximetry bias in adult patients in the ICU.

Yang, Philip; Felzer, Jamie R; Tovar, Santiago; Lohuis, Caitlin ten; Bender, William S; Johnson, Dayna A; Haardoerfer, Regine; Valley, Thomas S; Ian Wong, An-Kwok; Bhavani, Sivasubramanium V. CHEST Crit Care.

Collection Topics
Equity, Access, and Timeliness Tests, Screening, and Laboratory Processes
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Summary

Pulse oximeters can overestimate blood oxygen in Black patients compared with blood gas tests, potentially delaying diagnosis and treatment. In this prospective cohort study of 198 ICU patients with 709 paired measurements at two hospitals, Black race—but not objectively measured skin pigmentation—was associated with bias. The findings suggest additional physiological or device-related causes and warrant further study of inequities in pulse-oximeter use.
Read the paper
Yang P, Felzer JR, Tovar S, et al. The association of skin pigmentation with pulse oximetry bias in adult patients in the ICU. CHEST Critical Care. 2026;4(3):100277.