Current MUAC Cut-Offs to Screen for Acute Malnutrition Need to Be Adapted to Gender and Age: The Example of Cambodia

BackgroundEarly identification of children 5 yrs. Therefore, this study aimed at defining gender and age-specific cut-offs to improve sensitivity of MUAC as an indicator of acute malnutrition.MethodsTo establish new age and gender-specific MUAC cut-offs, pooled data was obtained for 14,173 children from 5 surveys in Cambodia (2011–2013). Sensitivity, false positive rates, and areas under receiver-operator characteristic curves (AUC) were calculated using wasting for children ResultsOptimal cut-off values increased with age. Boys had higher cut-offs than girls, except in the 8–10.9 yrs age range. In children 80% with the new cut-offs in comparison with the current WHO cut-offs.ConclusionGender and age specific MUAC cut-offs drastically increased sensitivity to identify children with WHZ-score