can the child who admitted with MUAC discharge with WFH ?
What is the best indicator for discharging severe acute malnutrition?
It is common practise to discharge on the child having achieved a weight gain of either 15% or 18% (after loss of oedema). The actual discharge criteria used is usually more complicated than this. For example, "MUAC > 110 mm AND weight gain > 15% WITHOUT oedema and clinically well for two OTP sessions" might be used.
This removes the need to measure height which is an important consideration in integrated CMAM since IMCI trains on weight measurements but _not_ height measurements. Recent inventories of health facilities in Africa indicate that height boards are not available in most primary care settings and may not be available even at the level of tertiary referral hospitals.
As for "best indicator" ... this is the subject of ongoing work. Projects are underway, for example, to test simple MUAC discharge criteria in integrated CMAM settings.
Mark Myatt
Technical Expert
Answered:
15 years agoSeverely acutely malnourished patient admitted in OTPs are discharged on MUAC basis (but WfH charts are consulted routinely to see if there is any discrepancy) to the SFP. This is a routine in our practice in Sindh, Pakistan. Best indicator offcourse in my opinion is WfH.
Dr Mohammad Najeeb
Answered:
15 years agoWhat MUAc threshold do you use for discharge?
Mark Myatt
Technical Expert
Answered:
15 years ago