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Family Centered Developmental Intervention on Severely Acutely Malnourished Children

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Severly Acutely Malnourished Children
Registration Number
NCT03036176
Lead Sponsor
Hasselt University
Brief Summary

Children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are at serious risks that compromise their growth and development. Studies have shown the benefits of psychosocial intervention in mitigating the negative consequences of SAM. However, such intervention studies have targeted the critical period in child development and thus focused on children under three years of age. Dietary rehabilitation is usually included as part of the intervention package. Moreover, these young children in such studies customarily obtain more care than older ones and have access to breast milk, more frequent interaction with mother and other caregivers in the family. Therefore, effects of psychosocial interventions targeting such age groups may be different for older children. Much is not known if children older than three years of benefit from similar interventions, and if family-based psychomotor/psychosocial intervention can benefit SAM children in low income contexts such as Ethiopia where access to balanced diet remains hardly possible. In Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world, many children are admitted to hospital for treatment due to SAM. The nutritional rehabilitation unit at hospitals provide dietary treatment to the SAM children who are also treated for related illnesses and complications. Once discharged from hospital, however, the SAM children return to the same poor home environments with inadequate care and unbalanced diets. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of play-based family-centered psychomotor/psychosocial stimulation on linear growth, nutritional status and developmental outcomes of under-six SAM children in the Jimma Zone, south west Ethiopia. This was done by randomly assigning the SAM children admitted to Jimma University's Specialized Referral Teaching Hospital into control and intervention groups. Both groups were receiving the routine medical and dietary treatment services. The intervention group additionally received play-based psychomotor/psychosocial stimulation. Caregivers, supported by periodic visits made to their homes, continued the simulation. Measurements were taken after six months of home follow-up. It was hypothesized that the intervention would significantly improve some of the developmental skills of these children, and that the effect may be age-dependent.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
339
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Language outcome6 months after discharge from hospital

Denver II-Jimma was used to test language outcome \& the total number of items successfully performed was counted.

Personal-Social outcome6 months after discharge

Denver II-Jimma was used to test Personal-social outcome \& the total number of items successfully performed was counted.

Fine motor outcome6 months after discharge

Denver II-Jimma was used to test Fine motor outcome \& the total number of items successfully performed was counted.

Gross motor outcome6 months after discharge

Denver II-Jimma was used to test Gross motor outcome \& the total number of items successfully performed was counted.

Social-emotional outcome6 months after discharge

The Ages and Stages questionnaire: Social emotional (ASQ:SE) was used to test Social emotional outcome \& a child's total behavior score was obtained by adding up scores on each of the items

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Linear growth6 months after discharge from hospital

Height/length-for-age z score was used to determine linear growth. For children under two years of age, a length measuring board on a flat table was used. The height of a child above two years of age was measured by using a portable stadiometer.

Nutritional status (Weight -for-age)6 months after discharge from hospital

Weight-for-age z score was used to determine nutritional status. A child's weight was measured by using a calibrated electronic weighing scale.

Nutritional status (Weight for height/length)6 months after discharge from hospital

Weight-for-height/length z score (for under five children) and body-max-index-for age z score (for children above five years) were used to determine nutritional status.

Nutritional status (Mid-upper-arm circumference)6 months after discharge from hospital

Mid-upper-arm circumference z score was used to determine nutritional status. Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) was measured with MUAC tape.

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