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Table 1 Child, maternal and household characteristics at inclusion by study group

From: Effects of unconditional cash transfers on the outcome of treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM): a cluster-randomised trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Characteristics

Intervention arm

Control arm

P valuea

Number (%)

734

(49.6)

747

(50.4)

Child characteristics

Sex, female, n (%)

422

(57.5)

429

(57.4)

1.000

Age (months), mean (SD)

27.7

±14.7

27.0

±13.8

0.348

Age category, n (%)

    

0.973

 6–11 months

94

(12.8)

94

(12.6)

 

 12–23 months

213

(29.0)

214

(28.6)

 

 24–59 months

427

(58.2)

439

(58.8)

 

Sibling rank, n (%)

    

0.144

 Elder

86

(11.7)

69

(9.2)

 

 Second

103

(14.0)

109

(14.6)

 

 Third

126

(17.2)

119

(15.9)

 

 Fourth

130

(17.7)

114

(15.3)

 

 Fifth and more

288

(39.2)

336

(45.0)

 

 Do not know

1

(0.1)

0

(0.0)

 

Weight (kg), mean (SD)b

7.6

±1.7

7.5

±1.7

0.442

Height/length (cm), mean (SD)

76.8

±9.3

76.3

±9.1

0.311

WHZ, mean (SD)b

–3.1

±0.6

–3.0

±0.7

0.052

HAZ, mean (SD)

–3.4

±1.4

–3.5

±1.5

0.342

MUAC (mm), mean (SD)b

112.3

±4.6

111.9

±5.6

0.086

Bilateral oedema, n (%)

63

(8.6)

88

(11.8)

0.052

IDDS, mean (SD)

2.8

±1.0

2.7

±0.9

0.009

Maternal characteristics

Age (years), mean (SD)

29.5

±7.7

29.6

±7.4

0.675

School achievement, n (%)

    

<0.001

 None

53

(7.2)

47

(6.3)

 

 Primary school

369

(50.3)

466

(62.4)

 

 Secondary or high

286

(39.0)

211

(28.2)

 

 Do not know

26

(3.5)

23

(3.1)

 

Marital status, n (%)

    

0.649

 Monogamous marriage

505

(68.8)

513

(68.7)

 

 Polygamous marriage

166

(22.6)

173

(23.2)

 

 Other (single, widow, divorcee, separated)

40

(5.4)

45

(6.0)

 

 Do not know

23

(3.1)

16

(2.1)

 

BMI, mean (SD)

21.1

±2.8

21.0

±2.7

0.423

Breastfeeding at time of enrolment, n (%)

243

(33.1)

240

(32.1)

0.729

Household characteristics

Household size, mean (SD)

8.0

±2.5

7.6

±2.5

0.001

No. of children <5 years at home, mean (SD)

2.7

±1.3

2.1

±0.9

<0.001

Socioeconomic level (HEA criteria), n (%)

    

0.058

 Very poor

378

(51.5)

371

(49.7)

 

 Poor

184

(25.1)

179

(24.0)

 

 Middle

68

(9.3)

103

(13.8)

 

 Better-off

104

(14.2)

94

(12.6)

 

HDDS, mean (SD)

4.1

±1.5

4.0

±1.5

0.185

HDDS category, n (%)

    

0.098

 Lowest dietary diversity (≤3 food groups)

296

(40.3)

339

(45.4)

 

 Medium dietary diversity (4–5 food groups)

309

(42.1)

299

(40.0)

 

 High dietary diversity (≥6 food groups)

129

(17.6)

109

(14.6)

 

FCS, mean (SD)

43.7

±12.19

43.5

±12.8

0.768

FCS category, n (%)

    

0.676

 Poor (score 0–28)

59

(8.0)

68

(9.1)

 

 Borderline (score 28.5–42)

311

(42.4)

322

(43.1)

 

 Acceptable (score >42)

364

(49.6)

357

(47.8)

 
  1. aFrom Student’s t tests for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables. Note: no corrections for multiple significance tests have been made in this table. With Bonferroni-Holm correction the child’s IDDS score becomes non-significant. It was however, retained as an adjustment in the Cox analyses; the other significances were not changed
  2. bChildren with oedema were excluded from the analysis for the assessment of weight and WHZ
  3. HAZ height-for-age Z-score, BMI body mass index