Bai Prinka, Rais Heena, Fawad Bina, Kumari Sandhya
Pediatric Medicine, Ziauddin University, Karachi, PAK.
Community Health Sciences, Ziauddin University, Karachi, PAK.
Cureus. 2022 Jul 28;14(7):e27387. doi: 10.7759/cureus.27387. eCollection 2022 Jul.
Objective To compare the WHO cut-off of the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) with the weight for height z-score (WHZ) in different age groups of children (6 months to 59 months of age) with acute malnutrition in Pakistan. Methodology A cross-sectional study was carried out in the pediatric unit of Ziauddin Medical University and Hospital on malnourished children from six to 59 months of age to compare two different indices of malnutrition, MUAC and WHZ. A total of 450 children with WHZ of <-2SD and <-3SD were included in the study after excluding children with failure to thrive due to chronic illness, congenital defects, and immune deficiencies/malabsorption. Results The study revealed a significant mean difference in weight, height, and MUAC among the participants (0.030, 0.053, and 0.02). The sensitivity of MUAC at <11.5 cm was highest in the 12-24-month age group with a decline at 24-48 months while specificity was highest at six to 12 months of age, which shows a mixed response. Conclusion The result revealed variation in the cut-off value of MUAC in different age groups; the best specificity of MUAC was found at six to 12 months of age and the best sensitivity at 12-24 months of age.
目的 比较世界卫生组织（WHO）的上臂中部周长（MUAC）截断值与身高别体重Z评分（WHZ）在巴基斯坦不同年龄组（6个月至59个月）急性营养不良儿童中的情况。方法 在齐亚丁医科大学医院儿科对6至59个月的营养不良儿童开展一项横断面研究，以比较两种不同的营养不良指标，即MUAC和WHZ。在排除因慢性疾病、先天性缺陷以及免疫缺陷/吸收不良导致发育迟缓的儿童后，共450名WHZ＜-2SD和＜-3SD的儿童被纳入研究。结果 研究显示参与者在体重、身高和MUAC方面存在显著的平均差异（分别为0.030、0.053和0.02）。MUAC＜11.5 cm时，12至24个月年龄组的敏感性最高，在24至48个月时下降，而特异性在6至12个月时最高，呈现出混合反应。结论 结果显示不同年龄组MUAC的截断值存在差异；MUAC在6至12个月时特异性最佳，在12至24个月时敏感性最佳。
