MUAC measurement in children

This question was posted the Assessment and Surveillance forum area and has 3 replies.

Ali Ousmane

Statisticien

Normal user

11 Dec 2020, 10:37

Good morning all,

MUAC measurement is typically taken in children 6 to 59 months of age in programs and surveys. Is there a good reason why children from 0 to 5 months are not included in this measurement?

André Briend

Frequent user

11 Dec 2020, 11:31

This has been discussed at length before.

See: https://www.ennonline.net/mamicasedetectionreview

I hope this helps,

Jay Berkley

Professor

Frequent user

11 Dec 2020, 12:15

Hi Ali

The only reason is the lack of officially recognised diagnostic thresholds. There are plenty of data on MUAC's value for predicting mortality from Africa (much better than WLZ), but more are needed from Asia for this to b e adopted by WHO. Several agencies are already using it as the ENN review points out.

Best wishes

Jay