A multicentre prospective observational study comparing arterial blood gas values to those obtained by pulse oximeters used in adult patients attending Australian and New Zealand hospitals

Table 3 Diagnostic performance of SpO₂ and SaO₂

Ability for SpO₂ <90% to detect SaO₂ <90%
	SaO₂ <90%		Sensitivity: 88.6%
SpO₂ <90%	Yes	No	Specificity: 95.1%
Yes	31	18
No	4	347
Total	35	365
Ability for SpO₂ <92% to detect SaO₂ <90%
	SaO₂ <90%		Sensitivity: 100%
SpO₂ <92%	Yes	No	Specificity: 84.4%
Yes	35	57
No	0	308
Total	35	365
Ability for SpO₂ <90% to detect PaO₂ <60 mmHg
	PaO₂ <60 mmHg		Sensitivity: 70.5%
SpO₂ <90%	Yes	No	Specificity: 98.2%
Yes	43	6
No	18	333
Total	61	339
Ability for SaO₂ <90% to detect PaO₂ <60 mmHg
	PaO₂ <60 mmHg		Sensitivity: 54.1%
SaO₂ <90%	Yes	No	Specificity: 99.4%
Yes	33	2
No	28	337
Total	61	339

PaO₂: Partial pressure of oxygen, SaO₂: Oxygen saturation measured by arterial blood gas sample, SpO₂: Oxygen saturation measured by standard pulse oximeter

ISSN: 1471-2466