In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), malnutrition remains a major public health challenge, particularly among children under 5 years of age. Despite nutritional screening tools being developed and available to detect early malnutrition in under five-year-old children, malnutrition continues to be a health concern. However, the level of evidence on nutritional screening tools for predicting early malnutrition at the community level in a high disease burden setting is unclear. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically map the evidence on malnutrition screening tools for children under 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and to identify knowledge gaps. The proposed study will be guided by an improved Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, Levac et al. 2010 recommendations, and the 2015 Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. We will conduct a systematic search of relevant imperial sources of evidence from the following databases: CINAHL with full text, Academic search complete via EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and PubMed. We will search for grey literature from the following humanitarian and aid organization websites: World Health Organization (WHO), The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and governmental departments. Following the database searches and title screening, eligible sources of evidence will be exported to an EndNote X9 reference library. Thereafter, duplicate articles will be removed in preparation for abstract and full article screenings. Data from the included sources of evidence will be extracted, and the emerging themes will be analyzed. The relationship between the emerging themes and the research questions will be critically examined. The quality of the included sources of evidence will be determined by using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018. The search results will be presented in adapted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis: Extension for Scoping Reviews chart (PRISMA-ScR). We anticipate finding relevant literature on malnutrition screening tools for children under 5 years in SSA. This study is likely to reveal research gaps, which could guide future research on malnutrition screening tools.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲5岁以下儿童营养不良筛查工具的循证证据：范围界定审查方案

在撒哈拉以南非洲，营养不良仍然是主要的公共卫生挑战，尤其是在5岁以下的儿童中。尽管开发了营养筛查工具并可以用来检测五岁以下儿童的早期营养不良，但营养不良仍然是健康问题。然而，在疾病负担高的情况下，用于社区一级早期营养不良的营养筛查工具的证据水平尚不清楚。范围界定审查的目的是系统地绘制撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）5岁以下儿童营养不良筛查工具的证据，并找出知识差距。拟议的研究将以改良的Arksey和O'Malley的框架Levac等为指导。2010年的建议和2015年的乔安娜·布里格斯学院指南。我们将从以下数据库中对相关的皇家证据来源进行系统搜索：带有全文的CINAHL，通过EBSCOhost，Google Scholar，Science Direct和PubMed完成的学术搜索。我们将在以下人道主义和援助组织网站上搜索灰色文献：世界卫生组织（WHO），联合国国际儿童应急基金会（UNICEF）和政府部门。在数据库搜索和标题筛选之后，合格的证据来源将被导出到EndNote X9参考库。此后，将删除重复的文章，以准备进行摘要和全文筛选。将从包括的证据中提取数据，并对新兴的主题进行分析。新兴主题与研究问题之间的关系将受到严格审查。所包含证据来源的质量将通过使用混合方法评估工具（MMAT）2018版来确定。搜索结果将显示在经过改编的用于系统评价和元分析的首选报告项目中：范围界定评价图表的扩展（PRISMA） -ScR）。我们期望在SSA中找到有关5岁以下儿童营养不良筛查工具的相关文献。这项研究可能会揭示研究差距，这可以指导有关营养不良筛查工具的未来研究。搜索结果将在针对系统评价和元分析的适应性首选报告项目中显示：界定范围的评价图表扩展（PRISMA-ScR）。我们期望在SSA中找到有关5岁以下儿童营养不良筛查工具的相关文献。这项研究可能会揭示研究差距，这可以指导有关营养不良筛查工具的未来研究。搜索结果将在针对系统评价和元分析的适应性首选报告项目中显示：界定范围的评价图表扩展（PRISMA-ScR）。我们期望在SSA中找到有关5岁以下儿童营养不良筛查工具的相关文献。这项研究可能会揭示研究差距，这可以指导有关营养不良筛查工具的未来研究。