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

Malnutrition Clinical Trial

— MUAC  

Official title:

Mothers Understand And Can do it - Mid Upper Arm Circumference Screening for Malnutrition Performed by Mothers of Children < 5 Years Old

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01790815
• Other study ID #: MUAC mères
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 12, 2013
• Last updated: December 8, 2013
• Start date: August 2011
• Est. completion date: August 2012

Study information

• Verified date: December 2013
• Source: Alliance for International Medical Action
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Niger: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

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

Description:

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 300
• Est. completion date: August 2012
• Est. primary completion date: August 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 6 Months to 59 Months

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• children present in the inpatient malnutrition treatment unit and paediatric service of the Mirriah district hospital aged between 6-59 months old

• children aged between 6-59 months old in the two villages where the community phase of the study was conducted

Exclusion Criteria:

• children receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of Mirriah district hospital

• children with bilateral oedema

• children whose mothers or fathers refused consent to participate in the study

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Kwashiorkor
• Malnutrition
• Malnutrition; Degree, Moderate
• Marasmus

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Niger	Mirriah Health District	Mirria	Mirriah

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Alliance for International Medical Action	Bien Être de La femme et de L'Enfant au Niger

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Niger, 

References & Publications (2)

Briend A, Garenne M, Maire B, Fontaine O, Dieng K. Nutritional status, age and survival: the muscle mass hypothesis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1989 Oct;43(10):715-26. — View Citation

Briend A, Maire B, Fontaine O, Garenne M. Mid-upper arm circumference and weight-for-height to identify high-risk malnourished under-five children. Matern Child Nutr. 2012 Jan;8(1):130-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2011.00340.x. Epub 2011 Sep 28. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	inter and intra observer variability	Variance in result of screening for malnutrition performed by mothers with minimal training compared to 'gold-standard' fully trained health care workers. Screening will be performed with a MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) bracelet, results will be expressed by category: SAM (severe acute malnutrition), MAM (moderate acute malnutrition) or 'normal nutritional status	2 years	No
Secondary	inter and intra observer variability	The difference in millimetres in the MUAC value if measured on the right arm as opposed to the left ('classical method'), in young children	2 years	No
Secondary	inter and intra observer variability	The difference in the MUAC value in millimetres if the mid upper arm position is determined visually as opposed to being measured in the 'classical' fashion	2 years	No

External Links

•   Click here for more information about the Alliance for International Medical Action