Prevalence of undiagnosed hypoxemia in adults and children in an under-resourced district hospital in Zambia.

Background: In adequately resourced clinical environments, diagnosis of hypoxemia via pulse oximetry is routine. Unfortunately, pulse oximetry is rarely utilized in under-resourced hospitals in developing countries.

Aim: The prevalence of undiagnosed hypoxemia among adults and children with illnesses other than pneumonia in these environments remains poorly described.