Serum Transthyretin Level as a Plausible Marker for Diagnosis of Child Acute Malnutrition

Table 2

Categorization of malnutrition between study and control groups using anthropometric and biochemical markers.

Variable	Total (102); (%)	Control (51); (%)	Malnourished (51); (%)	value
Gender
Male	63 (61.8)	32 (62.7)	31 (60.7)	1.0
Female	39 (38.2)	19 (37.3)	20 (39.3)
Height for age
Severely malnourished	30 (29.4)	0 (0)	30 (58.8)	<0.0001
Moderately malnourished	15 (14.7)	0 (0)	15 (29.5)
Normal	57 (55.9)	51 (89.5)	6 (11.7)
Weight for height
Severely malnourished	40 (39.2)	0 (0)	40 (78.5)	<0.0001
Moderately malnourished	11 (10.8)	0 (0)	11 (21.5)
Normal	51 (50)	51 (100)	0 (0)
Weight for age
Severely malnourished	43 (42.15)	0 (0)	43 (84.3)	<0.0001
Moderately malnourished	5 (4.9)	0 (0)	5 (9.9)
Normal	54 (52.95)	51 (94.4)	3 (5.8)
MUAC
Severely malnourished	39 (38.2)	0 (0)	39 (76.5)	<0.0001
Moderately malnourished	12 (11.8)	0 (0)	12 (23.5)
Normal	51 (50)	51 (100)	0 (0)
Transthyretin (prealbumin)
Severely malnourished	7 (6.9)	0 (0)	7 (13.7)	<0.0001
Moderately malnourished	46 (45.1)	2 (3.9)	44 (86.3)
Normal	49 (48.0)	49 (96.1)	0 (0)
Albumin
Normal	77 (75.5)	45 (88.2)	32 (62.7)	<0.0001
Malnutrition	25 (24.5)	6 (11.8)	19 (37.3)