MAA tape (Mother’s Assessment for Action) -Innovation for diagnosis of nutritional vulnerability of children (6 months to 5 years)-A new tool to empower mothers and caregivers

Abstract

Background: We devised a non-stretchable cloth tape with a button at 12. 4 cm to be encircled around the mid upper arm of children 6 months to 59 months of age.  The objective was to validate and assess utility of the MAA tape as a first screening device by mothers for primary triaging of the children. Methods: A study was undertaken on 2289 infants and children attending outpatient department of 9 Medical colleges of Maharashtra, India during Jan. 2022 to Jan. 2023. Study was submitted to ICMR clinical trial registry no.REF/2022/09/05891 and approved by Institutional ethics committees of respective Medical Colleges. Height , weight and MUAC of the baby was taken by the mother and doctor and data was entered using KOBO tool. Results: Using MAA tape  by doctors, 458 babies had moderate or severe acute malnutrition (20%) out of 2289 children. MAA tape use by mothers and doctors matched in 2240 cases (97.86%). Sensitivity of MAA tape use by mothers was 97.23% and specificity was 98.01% . Sensitivity of MAA tape with respect to MUAC was 64.04% and specificity was 87.04%. Conclusion: MAA tape can be used to empower mothers in detecting suspected growth faltering of their children at the earliest.