Computerized cry analysis in infants affected by severe protein energy malnutrition

A new method of computerized cry analysis has been utilized to evaluate the cries of infants affected by severe protein energy malnutrition. We studied 17 Kenian babies affected by severe malnutrition for more than four months (9 cases of marasmus and 8 of kwashiorkor) and a control group of 17 well-nourished babies. The cries of the malnourished children showed lower inter-utterance variability, formants' frequencies and cry score, assigned by the Infant Cry Modulation Assessment Scale. The melodic pattern was more often flat, rising or falling-rising, when compared to the cries of the well-nourished babies. We hypothesize that these differences reflect the state of brain damage associated with protein energy malnutrition. No differences were found between the cries of infants affected by marasmus and those affected by kwashiorkor, between the cries recorded before and after nutritional therapy and between the first cries of malnourished children who subsequently died during hospitalization and those of infants who survived.