Critical evaluation of the appetite test for children with severe acute malnutrition

Objectives The appetite test is used to risk stratify for children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in inpatient or outpatient care. The test is recommended in guidelines despite lack of evidence. We evaluated its ability to identify children at risk of a poor treatment outcome. Methods We conducted an observational study of children diagnosed with SAM at three health facilities in Ethiopia. The appetite test was done independently, and the...