dhaka_dehydration_score: DHAKA Score for Dehydration in Children

In cliot: Clinical Indices and Outcomes Tools

DHAKA Score for Dehydration in Children

Description

Calculates the Dehydration: Assessing Kids Accurately (DHAKA) score. This tool assesses the severity of dehydration in children (aged 1 month to 5 years) with acute diarrhea. It is validated for use in low-resource settings to guide rehydration therapy (ORS vs IV).

Usage

dhaka_dehydration_score(general_appearance, sunken_eyes, dry_mucous_membranes,
                        tears_absent, skin_turgor, deep_breathing)

Arguments

general_appearance	Numeric (0-2). 0: Alert/Normal. 1: Restless/Irritable. 2: Lethargic/Unconscious.
sunken_eyes	Numeric (0 or 1). Are the eyes sunken? (1 = Yes).
dry_mucous_membranes	Numeric (0 or 1). Are the mucous membranes (mouth/tongue) dry? (1 = Yes).
tears_absent	Numeric (0 or 1). Are tears absent when crying? (1 = Yes).
skin_turgor	Numeric (0-2). Skin pinch test (abdominal). 0: Immediate return (Normal). 1: Slow return (1-2 seconds). 2: Very slow return (> 2 seconds).
deep_breathing	Numeric (0 or 1). Presence of deep, acidotic breathing? (1 = Yes).

Value

A list containing:

DHAKA_Score	The calculated score (Range 0-8).
Dehydration_Status	Classification (No Dehydration, Some Dehydration, Severe Dehydration).
Management_Plan	Recommended rehydration strategy (ORS or IV).

References

Levine AC, Glavis-Bloom J, Modi P, et al. Derivation and internal validation of the DHAKA score for dehydration assessment in children with acute diarrhea in low-resource settings. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2013;1(1):97-108. doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-12-00012 Levine AC, Munyaneza RM, Glavis-Bloom J, et al. Prediction of severe dehydration in children with diarrhea/vomiting using the DHAKA score. Pediatrics. 2016.

Examples

# Example 1: Severe Dehydration
# Lethargic (2), Sunken Eyes (1), Dry Mouth (1), No Tears (1),
#Very Slow Turgor (2), Deep Breathing (1)
# Score = 8
dhaka_dehydration_score(2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1)

# Example 2: Some Dehydration
# Restless (1), Sunken Eyes (1), Normal Turgor (0), Tears Present (0)
# Score = 2
dhaka_dehydration_score(1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0)

cliot documentation built on Dec. 1, 2025, 1:06 a.m.