Mothers Understand And Can do it - Mid Upper Arm Circumference Screening for Malnutrition Performed by Mothers

Overview

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE : To determine whether mothers, given minimal group training, are capable of using a MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) bracelet to screen their children for malnutrition and categorise them into one of three groups : 'red' (SAM ; severe acute malnutrition), 'yellow' (MAM ; moderate acute malnutrition) or 'green' (normal nutritional status) SECONDARY OBJECTIVES : To establish whether there is a difference in the MUAC value if measured on the right arm as opposed to the left, in young children To determine whether there is a difference in the MUAC value if the mid upper arm position is determined visually as opposed to being measured in the 'classical' fashion

Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and its complications are major causes of death in under 5s in the developing world. A simple, reproducible, scalable way to recognise acute malnutrition and target early intervention would be a huge advance. Can mothers with limited training reliably measure and interpret the results of Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), a measurement performed with a MUAC measuring tape costing $0.06? MUAC contrasts with Z-score (WHZ), which requires both scales and a height gauge, both health worker interventions susceptible to considerable error, sensitive to non-nutritional factors, requiring calculations and growth curves, yet much less accurate in predicting risk of death compared with MUAC.

Conditions