ArticleThe American journal of emergency medicine2020
The utility of iPhone oximetry apps: A comparison with standard pulse oximetry measurement in the emergency department.
Article in The American journal of emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of Pulse Oximetry Accuracy in a Commercial Smartphone and Smartwatch Device During Human Hypoxia Laboratory Testing.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Families' perceptions of consumer-grade, inexpensive oxygen saturation monitors.Pediatric pulmonology · 2024Article
- The Accuracy of Readily Available Consumer-Grade Oxygen Saturation Monitors in Pediatric Patients.Respiratory care · 2024Article
- Article
- Smartphone camera oximetry in an induced hypoxemia study.NPJ digital medicine · 2022Article
- Recent Advances in Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring and Prediction Using a Machine Learning Approach.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Evaluation of a New Smartphone Powered Low-cost Pulse Oximeter Device.Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2022Article
- Equity-Driven Sensing System for Measuring Skin Tone-Calibrated Peripheral Blood Oxygen Saturation (OptoBeat): Development, Design, and Evaluation Study.JMIR biomedical engineering · 2022Article
- Postdischarge Evaluation for Individuals Hospitalized with COVID-19.Southern medical journal · 2022Article
- Development of Low-Cost and Portable Pulse Oximeter Device with Improved Accuracy and Accessibility.Medical devices (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Article
- Article
- Portable, Consumer-Grade Pulse Oximeters Are Accurate for Home and Medical Use: Implications for Their Use in Patients with COVID-19.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2021Article
- Digital health & low-value care.Healthcare (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2021Article
- Portable, consumer-grade pulse oximeters are accurate for home and medical use: Implications for use in the COVID-19 pandemic and other resource-limited environments.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2020Article
- Pulse Oximetry for Monitoring Patients with COVID-19 at Home. Potential Pitfalls and Practical Guidance.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2020Review
- An analysis of clinical predictive values for radiographic pneumonia in children.BMJ global health · 2020Article
- Wearables for the Next Pandemic.IEEE access : practical innovations, open solutions · 2020Article
- Rationale and limitations of the SpO2/FiO2 as a possible substitute for PaO2/FiO2 in different preclinical and clinical scenarios.Revista Brasileira de terapia intensivaReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo determine if a correlation exists between 3 iphone pulse ox applications' measurements and the standard pulse oximetry (SpO2) and whether these applications can accurately determine hypoxia.
methodsThree applications reportedly measuring SpO2 were downloaded onto an iPhone 5s. Two of these applications used the onboard light and camera lens "Pulse Oximeter" (Pox) and "Heart Rate and Pulse Oximeter" (Ox) and one used an external device that plugged into the iphone (iOx). Patients in the ED were enrolled with chief complaints of cardiac/pulmonary origin or a SpO2 ≤ 94%. All measurements were compared to controls. Concordance correlation coefficients, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated.
resultsA total of 191 patients were enrolled. The concordance correlation of iOx with control was 0.55 (CI 0.46, 0.63), POx was 0.01 (CI -0.09, 0.11), and Ox was 0.07 (CI -0.02, 0.15). 68/191 patients (35%) were found to have hypoxemia. Sensitivities for detecting hypoxia were 69%, 0%, and 7% for iOx, POx, and Ox, respectively. Specificities were 89%, 100%, and 89%. Even iOx (the most accurate) 21 (11%) were incorrectly classified nonhypoxic, and 22 (12%) were incorrectly classified hypoxic.
conclusionsWhile iOx has modest concordance with control, Ox and POx showed almost none. The iOx device was best in correctly identifying hypoxia patients, but almost 1/4 of patients were incorrectly classified. The three apps provided inaccurate SpO2 measurements and had limited to no ability to accurately detect hypoxia. These apps should not be relied upon to provide accurate SpO2 measurements in emergent, even austere conditions.
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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.