Utility and feasibility of integrating pulse oximetry into the routine assessment of young infants at primary care clinics in Karachi, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 Characteristics of young infants undergoing routine pulse oximetry at initial study visits and revisits at primary care clinics in Karachi, Pakistan, stratified by study site

Characteristic	Total		Initial visits			Revisits
Characteristic	Initial visits	Revisits	Site 1	Site 2	p	Site 1	Site 2	p
Number of visits (n)	529	333	299	230		182	151
Sex
Male	267 (50.5 %)	186 (55.9 %)	153 (51.2 %)	114 (49.6 %)	p=0.71	103 (56.6 %)	83 (55.0 %)	p=0.77
Female	262 (49.5 %)	147 (44.1 %)	146 (48.8 %)	116 (50.4 %)	p=0.71	79 (43.4 %)	68 (45.0 %)	p=0.77
Age
0-6 days	177 (33.5 %)	32 (9.6 %)	123 (41.1 %)	54 (23.5 %)	p<0.001	18 (9.9 %)	14 (9.3 %)	p=0.12
7-29 days	176 (33.3 %)	160 (48.0 %)	95 (31.8 %)	81 (35.2 %)		96 (52.8 %)	64 (42.3 %)
30-59 days	176 (33.3 %)	141 (42.3 %)	81 (27.1 %)	95 (41.3 %)		68 (37.4 %)	73 (48.3 %)
Visit reason^a
Well baby visit^b	97 (18.3 %)	26 (7.8 %)	77 (25.8 %)	20 (8.7 %)	p<0.001	22 (12.1 %)	4 (2.7 %)	p<0.001
Referred for new illness	424 (80.2 %)	209 (62.8 %)	222 (74.3 %)	202 (87.8 %)		154 (84.6 %)	55 (36.4 %)
Follow-up visit for illness	8 (1.5 %)	72 (21.6 %)	0 (0 %)	8 (3.5 %)		6 (3.3 %)	91 (60.3 %)
Parent/guardian’s perception of infant’s illness severity^c
Healthy	101 (19.1 %)	26 (7.8 %)	79 (26.4 %)	22 (9.6 %)	p<0.001	22 (12.1 %)	4 (2.7 %)	p<0.001
Minor illness	406 (76.8 %)	288 (86.5 %)	203 (67.9 %)	203 (88.3 %)		145 (79.7 %)	143 (94.7 %)
Very sick	6 (1.1 %)	8 (2.4 %)	5 (1.7 %)	1 (0.4 %)		7 (3.9 %)	1 (0.7 %)
Life-threatening	2 (0.4 %)	0 (0 %)	2 (0.7 %)	0 (0 %)		0 (0 %)	0 (0 %)
Physician recommended referral to hospital?
Yes	62 (11.7 %)	48 (14.4 %)	22 (7.4 %)	40 (17.4 %)	p=0.001	19 (10.4 %)	29 (19.2 %)	p=0.03
No	467 (88.3 %)	285 (85.6 %)	277 (92.6 %)	190 (82.6 %)	p=0.001	163 (89.6 %)	122 (80.8 %)	p=0.03

^an = 150 because one infant’s reason for a Site 2 revisit was missing
^bWell baby visit refers to a visit for well-child care (vaccination, growth monitoring, nutrition and hygiene education)
^cParent/guardian perceptions of infant illness severity were missing at 25 visits (2.9 %)

ISSN: 1471-2431