title: Diagnosis and prediction of the occurrence of acute mountain sickness measuring oxygen saturation--independent of absolute altitude?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Commercialization of trekking tourism enables untrained persons to participate in trekking tours. Because hypoxia is one of the main purported triggers for acute mountain sickness (AMS), pulse oximetry, which measures arterial oxygen saturation (SPO2), is discussed to be a possible and useful tool for the diagnosis of AMS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible associations between SPO2 values and the occurrence of AMS.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 204 trekkers, SPO2 values (pulse oximetry) were measured and the Lake Louise Self-assessment Score (LLS) was administered over the first 7 days of their trekking tours.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During treks at altitudes of 2500-5500 m in Nepal, India, Africa, and South America, 100 participants suffered from mild AMS, 3 participants suffered from severe AMS, and 9 participants reported both mild and severe AMS. The lowest mean SPO2 was 85.5 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 83.9-86.1 %) on day 5. SPO2 and LLS exhibited a weak to moderate negative correlation for all days of the study (ρ ranging from -0.142 to -0.370). Calculation of time-shifted associations of 24 and 48 h resulted in the disappearance of most associations. Susceptibility to headaches (odds ratio (OR) 2.9-7.2) and a history of AMS (OR 2.2-3.1) were determined to be potential risk factors for the development of AMS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since there is no strong altitude-independent association between AMS and SPO2 during the first week of high-altitude adaptation, the implementation of pulse oximetry during trekking in order to detect and predict AMS remains questionable.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sports Medicine, Alpine Medicine and Health Tourism, UMIT-University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology and TILAK Innsbruck, Eduard Wallnöfer Zentrum 1, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria. veronika.leichtfried@umit.at.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leichtfried
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Basic
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, Medical Section, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burtscher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and HTA, UMIT-University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Raffaella Matteucci
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gothe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and HTA, UMIT-University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Siebert
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sports Medicine, Alpine Medicine and Health Tourism, UMIT-University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology and TILAK Innsbruck, Eduard Wallnöfer Zentrum 1, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schobersberger
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009051:Mountaineering; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Acute mountain sickness; Adaptation; Field studies at high altitude; Lake Louise Score; Pulse oximetry