Pulse oximeters market analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic: Kyiv pharmacies' offers and survey of pharmacy faculty students

ABSTRACT

Objectives The objective of this study was to study the market of pulse oximeters to select the optimal choice for monitoring health status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Pulse oximeter data, presented on the Tabletki.ua website (2021) in Kyiv (Ukraine), were summarized and discussed. A survey about the history of the device purchase among 170 students of the Faculty of Pharmacy (Zaporizhzhia State Medical University, Ukraine) was statistically analysed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk, Levene's, Scheffe tests, one-sample t-test, Spearman's correlation and one-way ANOVA. Key findings The largest part of the Kyiv (Ukraine) pulse oximeter market is occupied by the People's Republic of China (70.97%). The price ranged from UAH 171.50 to UAH 1799.00. The models S6 and Linke LK88 are found to be the best choices according to the fullest provided data, the lowest minimum price and emphasis on the oxygen saturation and pulse rate accuracies. Medical students statistically significant would buy a pulse oximeter for less than UAH 563.40 (t(76) = -2.884;P = 0.005). The price did not depend on age (F = 1.104, P = 0.372) or gender (F = 2.466, P = 0.121), but there was a correlation between price and year of purchase (F = 2.712, P = 0.051). Students are primarily interested in country of origin, guarantees and pharmacist recommendations. A significantly weak Spearman's correlation was found between price and friend advice (rho = 0.275, Sig. = 0.015). Conclusions The same models differ in price by up to 4.2 times and in between them - up to 10. Less than half of the responders bought devices, and even a quarter of them did not use them at all, although they were from a health field. The detailed notifications about accuracy for different patient skin types are required in the device description. More people should be aware of pulse oximeter importance to maintaining health after COVID-19.