Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 12;20(1):20251219.
doi: 10.1515/med-2025-1219. eCollection 2025.

Factors affecting the measurements of peripheral oxygen saturation values in healthy young adults

Oktay Uysal  1 , Dilek Yılmaz  2
Affiliations

Factors affecting the measurements of peripheral oxygen saturation values in healthy young adults

Oktay Uysal et al. Open Med (Wars). .

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine peripheral oxygen saturation values in the index and middle fingers of the dominant hand in healthy young adults measured while lying in a supine position or sitting straight up.

Methods: This study was a non-randomized and non-controlled, quasi-experimental repeated measures study. It was conducted with 200 healthy young adults in Turkey. A pulse oximeter was located at the same time on the index and middle fingers of the active hand of each participant while sitting upright, and after being kept there for 1 min, the results of the measurements were recorded. Later, the participants were brought into a supine position, and after 10 min of rest, measurements with a pulse oximeter placed on the index and middle fingers of the active hand were repeated in the same way.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.4 ± 1.8 years; 76.5% were female, and their mean body mass index was 22.5 ± 3.6 kg/m2. It was found that when the individuals were sitting upright, the peripheral oxygen saturation values measured from the middle finger were significantly higher than the peripheral oxygen saturation values measured from the middle finger in the supine position (p = 0.003). It was found that the peripheral oxygen saturation values of female participants measured from the index finger in the upright sitting position and from the index and middle fingers in the supine position were significantly higher than the saturation values of male participants (p = 0.018, p < 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). In addition, it was found that the peripheral oxygen saturation values measured from the index and middle fingers of underweight individuals in the sitting position and from the index and middle fingers in the supine position were significantly higher than the saturation values of overweight individuals (p = 0.021, p = 0.006, p = 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion: In the conclusions of this study, it was found that the highest oxygen saturation value of the young adults was measured from the middle finger when they were in the upright sitting position. It was also found that the variables of gender and body mass index significantly affected the peripheral oxygen saturation value.

Keywords: body positions; healthy individuals; oxygenation; peripheral oxygen saturation; pulse oximeter.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest or any competing interests regarding the results and/or discussions reported in this research.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the TREND shows the number of the participants through each stage of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of participants’ peripheral oxygen saturation measurements made in sitting and supine positions from the index and middle fingers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Khan A, Khan B, Jameel A. Comparison of oxygen saturation in different fingers of hands measured by portable pulse oximeter in healthy adults. Med Forum. 2023;34(9):20–3.
    1. Elliott M, Williamson R. Do nursing textbooks accurately describe pulse oximetry? An audit of current literature. Br J Nurs. 2020;29(11):594–600. - PubMed
    1. Fenk S, Melnikova EV, Anashkina AA, Poluektov YM, Zaripov PI, Mitkevich VA, et al. Hemoglobin is an oxygen-dependent glutathione buffer adapting the intracellular reduced glutathione levels to oxygen availability. Redox Biol. 2022;58:102535. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miyasaka K, Shelley K, Takahashi S, Kubota H, Ito K, Yoshiya I, et al. Tribute to Dr. Takuo Aoyagi, inventor of pulse oximetry. J Anesthesia. 2021;35:671–709. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tor Ö, Mert G, Tosun B. Effects of positions on hemodynamic parameters of patients in intensive care unit. J Dokuz Eylul Univ Nurs Fac. 2019;12(1):15–20.

LinkOut - more resources