4 ms·

IIUC, dark-skinned people have higher covid19 mortality rates, and physicians usually(?) use this kind of oxymeter in their decision-making. I wonder if there's

IIUC, dark-skinned people have higher covid19 mortality rates, and physicians usually(?) use this kind of oxymeter in their decision-making. I wonder if there's a connection.

sangnoir 6y ago
The article also mentions that nonwhite people have a higher rate of their trouble with breathing being dismissed as due to anxiety compared to white people... It's possible there is a layer of biases, and at each step, there's a risk of not getting timely medical intervention resulting in poorer outcomes.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  Right. I wasn't trying to imply that the oxymeter bias explained the entire difference in outcome rates. I'm just curious if it matters enough to warrant further study.
  - sangnoir 6y ago
    I am agreeing with you, and speculating that the oxymeter is a small tip of the iceberg, and a multitude of "small" biases that add up to terrible outcomes.
greenbush 6y ago
Here's a good article that discusses why Black Americans have higher mortality rates: "systemic racism is as much a part of biology as genomes are: The conditions in which we develop—including limited access to healthy food, exposure to toxic pollutants, the threat of police violence or the injurious stress of racial discrimination—influence the likelihood that any one of us will suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or serious complications from COVID-19" https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/racism-not-genetics-explains-why-black-americans-are-dying-of-covid-19/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/racism-not-genet...