Table 1.

Admissions and discharge criteria, treatment products and calculation of dosage in the Burkina Faso national and Optimising treatment for acute MAlnutrition (OptiMA) protocols*

	National protocol		OptiMA protocol
	SAM	MAM	Acute malnutrition
Admission	MUAC < 115 mm or WHZ < −3 or oedema	MUAC ≥ 115 mm and MUAC < 125 mm or −3 < WHZ < −2	MUAC < 115 mm or oedema	115 ≤ MUAC ≤ 120 mm	120 ≤ MUAC < 125 mm
Treatment product	RUTF 150–200 kcal/kg per d	Super cereal plus 200 g/d or RUSF one 92 g sachet/d	RUTF 175 kcal/kg per d	RUTF 125 kcal/kg per d	RUTF 75 kcal/kg per d
Calculation of dosage	According to the weight	Fixed amount, regardless of weight or MUAC status	According to MUAC status and weight
Discharge criteria	MUAC ≥ 125 mm for two consecutive visits or WHZ ≥ −2 for two consecutive visits		MUAC ≥ 125 mm for two consecutive weeks
	No oedema minimum 2 weeks	After recovery from SAM: discharge after 3 months without losing weight	No oedema for minimum 2 weeks
	Minimum 4 weeks in programme		Minimum 4 weeks in programme
	Good clinical health		Good clinical health

SAM, severe acute malnutrition; MAM, moderate acute malnutrition; MUAC, mid upper arm circumference; WHZ, weight-for-height Z-score; RUTF, ready-to-use therapeutic food; RUSF, ready-to-use supplementary food.

* To convert kcal to kJ, multiply by 4·184.