Can anyone point me in the direction of any evidence and recommendations about visually assessing the midpoint to take MUAC versus measuring the midpoint (left arm, find tip of shoulder, bend arm, measure midpoint, straighten arm etc)? I'm particularly looking for anything looking at measurements by health centre/IMAM staff and/or community health workers. I can only find studies and recommendations for Family MUAC at the moment.
Hi Alison,
See this paper by Nikki Blackwell et al.
https://archpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13690-015-0074-z
The authros found that: “the choice of arm and exact location of the tape on the upper arm are not important for screening. This has implications for scaling up treatment to allow mass coverage and early intervention for SAM in vulnerable communities… Classification by mothers measuring the mid point of the upper arm determined by eye, showed an accuracy of 86.4% – 88.4% in GAM, and 94.2% – 95.6% in SAM, compared with the current standard of the CHW classification”.
They conclude that; "Since there was no difference between the MUAC value between arms, or the mid point determined by measurement or by eye, CHW training in MUAC reading can be also simplified, allowing the use of either arm of the child, and estimating the half-way point by eye."
Hope this helps...
Answered:
2 months ago