Abstract
Background:
Pneumonia is the commonest killer of children under 5 yrs; most deaths occur in the poorest regions. To help improve diagnosis in low-resource areas, we developed iPod/cell phone applications able to measure respiratory rate (RR) and saturation (SpO2). RR is measured using RRate® software (1) which calculates RR from 5 taps of the touch screen corresponding to 5 breaths. SpO2 is measured using an MS-2040 circuit board-in-cable attached to the iPod port. For the study, applications were run on an iPod Touch 4. We tested their accuracy against accepted standards.
Methods:
Two blinded observers, in each of three Indian hospitals, made paired observations on 344 children fulfilling WHO criteria for pneumonia. Observer 1 measured RR by 1 minute auscultation (RR.ausc), plus SpO2 using Masimo Rad7 (SpO2.mas). Observer 2 measured RR and SpO2 by iPod application (RR.tap and SpO2.ipod). Paired results compared by Bland-Altman technique.
Results:
There were no significant differences between RR.ausc and RR.tap or SpO2.mas and SpO2.ipod, either within or between institutions (table 1)
Conclusions:
SpO2 and RR can be measured accurately and reproducibly using cell phone technology that is easy to use and teach. This has the potential to improve the diagnosis and management of children with respiratory diseases in under-served areas.
Reference:
1. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/rrate/id581390517?mt=8.
- © 2013 ERS