Designing a digital anthropometric measurement system for hospitals in Malawi

Accurate anthropometric measurements are a critical component of healthcare. Errors in reading or recording measurements compromise quality of care. Through a suite of simple technologies described here, a Malawi-based NGO, Baobab Health Partnership, is electronically measuring and recording potentially malnourished children´s middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC). This data is quickly and reliably stored in a clinical database using a bar-code scanner connected to their touchscreen-based clinical workstation appliances. The author hypothesizes that, by doing this, fewer errors in measurement and transcription will arise. In addition, health-care providers will have access to cumulative, permanent patient measurement histories.