Pulse oximetry practice characteristics at 12 secondary-level hospitals in south-west Nigeria
| Neonate | Infant | Young child | Older child | Overall | |
| Pulse oximetry (%) | n=906 | n=598 | n=916 | n=386 | n=2806 |
| Succeeded | 900 (99.3) | 588 (98.3) | 896 (97.8) | 385 (99.7) | 2769 (98.7) |
| Failed | 6 (0.7) | 10 (1.7) | 20 (2.2) | 1 (0.3) | 37 (1.3) |
| Number of attempts if success | |||||
| 1 (%) | 437 (49.3) | 324 (56.3) | 607 (68.6) | 295 (78.0) | 1663 (61.0) |
| 2 (%) | 258 (29.1) | 153 (26.6) | 207 (23.4) | 60 (15.9) | 678 (24.9) |
| 3 or more (%) | 191 (21.6) | 99 (17.2) | 71 (8.0) | 23 (6.1) | 384 (14.1) |
| Number of attempts if fail | |||||
| 1 (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (10.0) | 1 (6.7) | 0 (0) | 2 (6.5) |
| 2 (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| 3 or more (%) | 5 (100) | 9 (90.0) | 14 (93.3) | 1 (100) | 29 (93.6) |
| Time to get reading (min) | |||||
| Successful, median (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–2) | 2 (1–2) | 2 (1–3) |
| Failure, median (IQR) | 5 (5–10) | 5 (4–10) | 5 (3–10) | 5 (–) | 5 (4–10) |
| Signs/symptoms if success | |||||
| Cool peripheries (%) | 178 (20.0) | 28 (4.8) | 42 (4.7) | 20 (5.2) | 268 (9.7) |
| Very active/non-cooperative | 133 (14.9) | 105 (18.0) | 141 (15.8) | 39 (10.2) | 418 (15.2) |
| Very agitated or upset (%) | 21 (2.4) | 34 (5.8) | 59 (6.6) | 19 (5.0) | 133 (4.8) |
| Shivering (%) | 9 (1.0) | 4 (0.7) | 16 (1.8) | 9 (2.4) | 38 (1.4) |
| Oedema of hands/feet (%) | 3 (0.3) | 3 (0.5) | 5 (0.6) | 4 (1.0) | 15 (0.6) |
| Painted nails (%) | 2 (0.2) | 2 (0.3) | 4 (0.5) | 1 (0.3) | 9 (0.3) |
| Signs/symptoms if fail | |||||
| Cool peripheries (%) | 1 (16.7) | 1 (11.1) | 1 (5.6) | 1 (100) | 4 (11.8) |
| Very active/non-cooperative | 2 (33.3) | 4 (40.0) | 13 (68.4) | 0 (0) | 19 (52.6) |
| Very agitated or upset (%) | 1 (16.7) | 4 (40) | 11 (57.9) | 0 (0) | 16 (44.4) |
| Shivering (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Oedema of hands/feet (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Painted nails (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
Notes: Neonate ≤28 days, infant 29 days−11 months, young child 1–4 years, older child 5–14 years. Oedema=swelling of hands or feet due to excess fluid in subcutaneous tissues (often due to low body protein from malnutrition or kidney disease).