According to a new study, patients with COVID-19 from racial and ethnic minority groups were delayed in receiving therapies due to an inaccurate reading of oxygen saturation levels.
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Tuesday, found that “overestimation of arterial oxygen saturation levels by pulse oximetry” in patients with COVID-19 from racial and ethnic minority groups contributed to “unrecognized or unrecognized delayed eligibility for COVID-19 “therapies. ”
“Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to experience unrecognized and delayed recognition of eligibility for COVID-19 therapy,” the study also said, adding that these disparities could be the reason for the results. COVID-19 different between races.
Throughout the pandemic, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have shown that black Americans and Hispanics were disproportionately likely to die from COVID-19.
In October 2020, the CDC said that 24% of deaths from COVID-19 between May and August of that year were Hispanic or Latino and 19% were black.
But the U.S. population is only 18 percent Hispanic and 12.5 percent black.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning for powder oximeters, which work by illuminating a red light through a patient’s fingertip last February. saying that “they may be less accurate in people with dark skin pigmentation.”
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is informing patients and health care providers that while pulse oximetry is useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, powder oximeters have limitations. and a risk of inaccuracy in certain circumstances that must be taken into account, “the FDA said at the time. .