Media arm circumference in schoo and preschool hospitalized as predictive value : acute malnutrition

• Published in: Archivos latinoamericanos de nutrición Vol. 66; no. 3; pp. 176 - 184
• Main Authors: de Sdnchez, Milagros Pontiles, de Salim, Alba Moron, Perdomo, Susan Darias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Venezuela 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Arm - anatomy & histology; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Male; Malnutrition - diagnosis; Malnutrition - epidemiology; Predictive Value of Tests; Reference Values; Sensitivity and Specificity; Venezuela - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0004-0622

The predictive power of the middle arm circumference for early identification of acute malnutrition in preschool and school children hospitalized in two hospitals in Valencia, Carabobo state. Was evaluated 182 children aged 2-10 years were evaluated. Anthropometric nutritional status calculated by: mid-arm circumference for age MAC and weight for height P/T. SPSS version 15.0 and Statistix version 6.0 was used. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value was determined by Bayes Theorem; Kappa index for correspondence; Diagnosis of acute malnutrition and sensitivity by MAC and area under the curve ROC; 95% confidence level. We found 51.1% male, 48.9% female, age 5.2 ± 2.2 years; 71.4% pre-school, school 28.6% (p = 0.000) between ages. When adjusted for sex and age, the CMB was significantly correlated with weight (r = 0.804; p = 0.000) and height (r = 0.510; p = 0.000). Kappa index of 0.720 (p = 0.000) for the comparison between P/T and CMB in the diagnosis of acute malnutrition. Acute malnutrition 28% prevalence for P/T and 34.6% for MAC, with agreement between both indicators. MAC showed good sensitivity and specificity, being more sensitive and specific in pre-school and school male children with acute malnutrition. 14.9 cm of cutoff point for acute malnutrition in preschool, with 85.5% sensitivity; 74.5% specificity; for school 16 cm with 89.2% sensitivity; 80% specificity. MAC showed better predictor of acute malnutrition P/T. It is recommended to set specific cutoffs for age and sex, for the definition and classification of nutritional deficit.