4 ms·
I don't think this is as useful as it might seem. Significant respiratory impairment may occur before a drop in oxygen saturation, expecially in the young and h
by Gatsky 7y ago
I don't think this is as useful as it might seem. Significant respiratory impairment may occur before a drop in oxygen saturation, expecially in the young and healthy. I would not be reassured by an oxygen saturation reading if there are other signs of illness. Adequate clinical assessment of a suspected severe respiratory illness comprises multiple factors of which oxygen saturation is only one.
- timcederman 7y agoI disagree that they aren't useful. You could make similar arguments on any kind of home medical diagnostics, but any additional information seems better to me. 1. There is evidence that a still normal, but lower-than-expected SPO2 can be predictive of medical issues - https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2018/06220/can_a_pulse_oxygen_saturation_of_95__to_96__help.46.aspx https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2018/06220/can_... But mainly, 2. If there are overcrowded hospitals, having further insight into the severity of the situation seems useful.