Discriminant function of complement C3, serum albumin and anthropometric measurements in identifying malnutrition

Abstract

A prospective study was conducted on 32 malnourished and 12 healthy pre-school children to study the role of certain variables, viz., supine length, weight-for-supine length, complement C3, weight-for-head circumference, serum albumin, weight and mid-arm circumference, in detecting the presence of malnutrition and to grade the severity of malnutrition. Out of 32 malnourished children 14 cases were re-investigated after 15 days of nutritional rehabilitation to find out the significant discriminator(s) of pre and post-treatment condition. Step-down discriminant analysis showed that supine length, weight-for-supine length and complement C3 were efficient discriminators in detecting cases of malnutrition. To transform the variables, viz., supine length, weight-for-supine length and complement C3 (each expressed as a percentage of standard-for-age) into score form, respective simplified weights, for multiplication, were found to be 0.9, 0.4 and 0.1. A dividing score (Z) of 123.1, with a bordering range () of 119.6 to 126.7 for 90% probability limits, separated malnourished from healthy children. For classifying children with respect to severity of malnutrition, weight-for-supine length and serum albumin concentration were found to be significant discriminators. Malnourished children with oedema (N=11) had higher weight-for-supine length ratio and lower serum albumin concentration as compared to non-oedematous malnourished children (N=21). While oedematous and non-oedematous malnourished children were almost equally stunted, higher weight for supine length ratio was attributed to accumulation of oedema fluid, in the former group. A subsample of 14 malnourished children who had received a 15-day nutritional therapy could be differentiated from their earlier condition (before treatment) by a significant rise in complement C3 and serum albumin levels.