Efficacy and Safety of Family Mid-upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) After Recovery From Severe and Moderate Acute Malnutrition

What this Trial Is About

Protocols for managing acute malnutrition in communities have not changed much in over 20 years, often involving complex treatments and supply challenges that limit care coverage. This research aims to test two new simplified community-based approaches to improve coverage for children recovering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition. The study focuses on evaluating a family-led mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) screening method as a way for caregivers to monitor their child's health at home compared to usual health facility follow-up and standard care. The study assigns children who have recovered from malnutrition treatment into one of three groups: one receives nutrition, infant and young child feeding (IYCF), and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) education with regular health worker screenings and a final 6-month visit; another group gets standard care with scheduled follow-up visits at 1, 3, and 6 months; and the last group receives standard care plus family MUAC training for the primary caregiver and a final 6-month visit. This randomized, double-blind trial compares these three approaches to see which best identifies relapse to malnutrition. Participants will be monitored for 6 months, during which researchers will track relapse episodes of acute malnutrition, nutritional status via weight-for-height and MUAC measurements, rates of recovery from relapse, mortality, hospitalizations, and loss to follow-up. Caregivers will be involved in monitoring through training or health worker visits, and the study aims to assess how well family MUAC screening works as a self-referral strategy versus scheduled clinical follow-up. The total study period for each child is 6 months after recovery from initial treatment.

Family Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) Follow-up After Recovery From Acute Malnutrition (MODAM-fMUAC)