BACKGROUND Various nutritional assessment tools are available to assess adult undernutrition, but few are practical in poorly served areas of low-income countries. OBJECTIVE The objective was to assess the relation between midupper arm circumference (MUAC), weight, body mass index (BMI), and clinical assessment for edema in predicting mortality in adults with severe acute undernutrition. DE...

INTRODUCTION Dehydration and malnutrition commonly occur together among ill children in developing countries. Dehydration (change in total body water) is known to alter weight. Although muscle tissue has high water content, it is not known whether mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) may be altered by changes in tissue hydration. We aimed to determine whether rehydration alters MUAC, MUAC Z score...

OBJECTIVE To determine the predictive value for death before 12 months of age of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and weight-for-length Z score (WFLz). METHODS A retrospective cohort analysis of infants living in Keneba, in rural Gambia, was conducted. Anthropometric measures were obtained from demographic surveillance system records for infants registered between February 1974 and July 200...

OBJECTIVES Validating the results of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement in 6-59 month-old children when MUAC was measured by community agents in areas where an emergency had been declared. Evaluating the cut-offs used for identifying children suffering from acute malnutrition in Colombia today. METHODOLOGY Previously trained community agents and a nutritionist carried out a cross-...

A new method of assessment based on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is described for dosage adjustment for community-based ivermectin distribution. We studied 878 subjects eligible for ivermectin dosing in Awhum, Nigeria. In a previous preliminary study of 40 persons, MUAC (in cm) correlated with weight (kg) in the first 20 male (r = 0.97, r2 = 0.95, P < 0.0001) and the first 20 female subje...

BACKGROUND The complexity and cost of measuring weight-for-height make it unsuitable for use by community-based volunteers. This has led community therapeutic care programs to adopt a two-stage screening and admission procedure in which mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) is used for referral and weight-for-height is used for admission. Such a procedure results in many individuals being referred...

BACKGROUND Community health workers (CHWs) are recommended to screen for acute malnutrition in the community by assessing mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) on children between 6 and 59 months of age. MUAC is a simple screening tool that has been shown to be a better predictor of mortality in acutely malnourished children than other practicable anthropometric indicators. This study compared, un...

Weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) are two independent anthropometric indicators for diagnosing and admitting children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) for treatment. While severely wasted children are at high risk of mortality, MUAC and WHZ do not always identify the same population of children as having SAM. Understanding how this discrepancy relates to...

The present community based cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of undernutrition using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) among adult (> 18 years) Santals of Purulia District, West Bengal, India. It was undertaken at 10 villages of the district. A total of 520 (217 males and 303 females) subjects were measured. Commonly used indicator i.e., MUAC and BMI, were used ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the inter-observer variability and accuracy of Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) and weight-for-length Z score (WFLz) among infants aged <6 months performed by community health workers (CHWs) in Kilifi District, Kenya. METHODS A cross-sectional repeatability study estimated inter-observer variation and accuracy of measurements initially undertaken by an expert anthropomet...