ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2016
Pulse oximetry for children with pneumonia treated as outpatients in rural Malawi.
Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 79 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Assessing the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Introducing Pulse Oximetry in IMCI Services to Manage Acute Respiratory Infections at First Level Health Facilities of Bangladesh
Evaluating Novel Pediatric Pulse Oximeters for Outpatient Child Pneumonia Care in Sub-Saharan Africa
Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hypoxaemia and mortality in children with lower respiratory infection in low-income and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2026Pooled it
- Which children with chest-indrawing pneumonia can be safely treated at home, and under what conditions is it safe to do so? A systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of hypoxaemia in children with pneumonia in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2022Pooled it
- Oxygen systems strengthening as an intervention to prevent childhood deaths due to pneumonia in low-resource settings: systematic review, meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- The impact of pulse oximetry on diagnosis, management and outcomes of acute febrile illness in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- Innovative, enhanced community management of non-hypoxaemic chest-indrawing pneumonia in 2-59-month-old children: a cluster-randomised trial in Africa and Asia.BMJ global health · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Performance of a novel reusable pediatric pulse oximeter probe.Pediatric pulmonology · 2019Trial
- Usability Testing of a Reusable Pulse Oximeter Probe Developed for Health-Care Workers Caring for Children < 5 Years Old in Low-Resource Settings.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Trial
- Added value of routine pulse oximetry use within Integrated Management of Childhood Illness guidelines in primary care in West Africa: insight from AIRE.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Predicting referral need for febrile children in low-resource community settings in South and Southeast Asia.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Clinical Evaluation of Pediatric Pulse Oximeters in South Africa: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Outcome and management of 2-59-month-old Nigerian children with chest indrawing pneumonia at primary-level healthcare facilities: a prospective cohort study.Journal of global health · 2026Observational
- Multimodal pulse oximeters to support the integrated management of childhood illnesses: A usability and diagnostic accuracy assessment from a multi-country hybrid type 2 study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Prevalence of hypoxemia among sick children, aged under-five years, seeking healthcare at primary health facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India: an observational-cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2025Article
- Missed opportunities for hospital referral of young children with severe pneumonia identified at primary care using pulse oximetry: an analysis from the AIRE study in West Africa.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Care management and determinants of day 14 mortality in severely ill children aged under 5 years subsequent to hypoxaemia diagnosed using routine pulse oximetry in primary care: evidence from the AIRE project.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with severe illness in West African children under 5 years of age detected with routine pulse oximetry in primary care.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Understanding health innovation adoption: a realist evaluation of pulse oximeter implementation in primary care for children under 5 in four West African countries.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Acceptability of the routine use of pulse oximetry by healthcare workers and caregivers within primary healthcare in West Africa: mixed-methods study.BMJ global health · 2025Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedCorrigendum.2017
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate implementation of outpatient pulse oximetry among children with pneumonia, in Malawi.
methodsIn 2011, 72 health-care providers at 18 rural health centres and 38 community health workers received training in the use of pulse oximetry to measure haemoglobin oxygen saturations. Data collected, between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2014 by the trained individuals, on children aged 2-59 months with clinically diagnosed pneumonia were analysed.
findingsOf the 14 092 children included in the analysis, 13 266 (94.1%) were successfully checked by oximetry. Among the children with chest indrawing and/or danger signs, those with a measured oxygen saturation below 90% were more than twice as likely to have been referred as those with higher saturations (84.3% [385/457] vs 41.5% [871/2099];
conclusionImplementation of pulse oximetry by our trainees substantially increased the referrals of Malawian children with severe hypoxaemic pneumonia. When data from oximetry were excluded, retrospective application of the guidelines published by WHO in 2014 failed to identify a considerable proportion of severely hypoxaemic children eligible only via oximetry.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.