Introduction: The measurement of the thickness of the adductor pollicis muscle (EMAP) has been of great importance in clinical practice, as a method of assessing the nutritional status of hospitalized patients, being a good measure to obtain a diagnosis of catabolic diseases, such as malnutrition, associated with other parameters. The purpose of this study is to associate the MAP thickness with the nutritional status of hospitalized patients in a public hospital in the city of Juazeiro-BA. Methods: Cross-sectional and quantitative study, with 221 patients admitted to the medical and emergency clinics of the Hospital Regional de Juazeiro (HRJ). The EMAP, weight, height, arm circumference (AC), abdomen circumference (AbC), calf circumference (CC) and triceps skinfold (TSF) were measured; as well as calculated the body mass index (BMI). Data analysis was performed using the software Statistical Package for Social Science 13.0, significance level of 5%. Results: There was an association between the EMAP and the other classic anthropometric measures, reflecting the relationship with nutritional status, and a higher correlation with CC (p = 0.482), and a lower correlation with AbC (p = 0.315). Conclusion: The EMAP can be correlated to the nutritional status of hospitalized patients, since it presented lower values in patients with muscular depletions and can be used in clinical practice as a good method of nutritional risk assessment associated with other parameters.