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Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública

2025, Number 6

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salud publica mex 2025; 67 (6)

Hypoxemia in Mexican adults as a function of altitude of residence above sea level, Ensanut 2024

Sánchez-Pájaro A, Guinto-Ramírez S, Mendoza-Alvarado LR, Pérez-Padilla R

Language: Spanish
References: 30
Page: 805-813
PDF size: 366.35 Kb.


ABSTRACT

Objective. To estimate the prevalence of chronic hypoxemia with requirements of domiciliary oxygen (SpO2 ≤88%), the prescription and use of domiciliary oxygen, as well as its predictors, in adults living in communities ›1 000 m above sea level in Mexico. Materials and methods. The study was part of the Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición 2024, a household-based, multistage, stratified, probability sampling survey with representativeness for the country and for urban and rural areas. Questions about home oxygen use were included, as well as the average of six measurements of SpO2 and pulse rate done at rest, seated, and breathing room air. Results. The prevalence of hypoxemia was 1.1% and increased with age, obesity, and altitude above sea level. This contrasts with the 3.4% of the population who reported an oxygen prescription, although only 19% had actually filled it. Of those receiving oxygen at home, 74% had no evidence of resting hypoxemia and used it for an average of 7.7 hours per day. Conclusions. One percent of adult Mexicans have hypoxemia at rest. Supplemental oxygen is prescribed without verification of hypoxemia or follow-up to confirm its persistence, and once prescribed, it is used by only one-fifth of patients for an insufficient amount of time. The use of home oxygen in Mexico does not adhere to international guidelines.


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