Comparing the accuracy of the three popular clinical dehydration scales in children with diarrhea

Table 1 WHO Scale for dehydration for children 1 month-5 years old

	A	B	C
Look at condition	Well, alert	Restless, irritable	Lethargic or unconscious
Eyes	Normal	Sunken	Sunken
Thirst	Drinks normally, not thirsty	Thirsty, drinks eagerly	Drinks poorly or not able to drink
Feel: Skin pinch	Goes back quickly	Goes back slowly	Goes back very slowly

Scoring: Fewer than two signs from column B and C: no signs of dehydration < 5%, ≥2 signs in column B: Moderate dehydration 5-10%, ≥2 signs in column C: > 10% severe dehydration

ISSN: 1865-1380