Default Rate

The default rate is one of the four core performance indicators of malnutrition treatment programs. It represents the proportion of children discharged from the program who were absent for two consecutive weighings (i.e. so-called “defaulters”).

To calculate the indicator's value, divide the number of “defaulters” by the total number of discharged children. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. The resulting number is the default rate (in percentages). 

Disaggregate the data by gender, geographic area, and age groups.

1) The indicator does not require a separate survey – all data can be gained from the treatment program’s regular records.

2) According to the Sphere Standards, a default rate of less than 15% is perceived as “acceptable”.

3) The four core performance indicators of a malnutrition treatment program (esp. the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition, CMAM) are recovery rate, death rate, default rate and non-recovery rate.

4) A general way to think about defaulter is "the service is available but the child is absent" so the normal reason for default is difficulty to access the health facilities. However, in case a deficiency arises in the treatment program (such as stock out of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) and the child still attends the programme but does not receive treatment, there is a need to capture that deficiency in some way. In case a new discharge category (e.g. unplanned service interruption) is created to capture this, the new category should be included in the denominator for the total number of discharges when calculating program outcomes. See more in discussions at En-Net.