Variation in oxygen saturation measurements in very low birth weight infants

Low birth weight is heavily correlated with health issues. Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, with a birth weight below 1500 g, are particularly at risk, and often subject to multiple developmental problems. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Helsinki University Central Hospital has been collecting patient data in a database since 1999. We studied data collected from 2059 VLBW infants admitted between 1999 and 2013. Our aim was to study the variance of oxygen saturation measurements and compliance with guidelines as an example of using statistical means to assess quality of care from vital trend measurements. As an example of quality control, we have studied the discrepancy between automatic measurements and manual readings taken from the same sensor output.