By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD A major UK study shows that commonly used home pulse oximeters can overestimate oxygen levels in people with darker skin, increasing the risk of undetected hypoxemia and raising ...

Patients with darker skin tones have peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) readings that are higher than patients with a lighter skin tone.

Pulse oximetry was less accurate for people with darker skin tones in two studies, one regarding home-use devices and the other hospital-grade devices, although with some surprising differences ...