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Table 1 Comparison of characteristics between cases and controls

From: The influence of maternal psychosocial circumstances and physical environment on the risk of severe wasting in rural Gambian infants: a mixed methods approach

Characteristics

Cases N = 77

Controls N = 203

P value

Demographic and anthropometric characteristics

 Children

  Parity, median (IQR)

4 (3, 7)

4 (2, 6)

 

WLZ at growth faltering time point in cases, mean (SD)

−3.6 (0.5)

−0.6 (1.1)

<0.005 a

WLZ at 12 months, mean (SD)¥

−2.1 (1.3)b

−0.8 (1.1)c

<0.005 a

 Age in years at time of interview, mean (SD)

2.9 (0.8)

2.9 (0.8)

 

 Male, n (%)

48 (58)

134 (61)

 

 One or more children under 5y in household (other than index child) n (%)

75 (97.4)

196 (96.6)

 

Carers

 Paternal age, mean, SD

47.3 (9.7)

48.7 (12.1)

 

 Maternal age, mean, SD

35 (6.4)

34 (6.7)

 

 Maternal depressive symptoms, n (%)

10 (13)

36 (12.4)

 

 Carer from 0 to 12 months- mother, n (%)

77 (100)

199 (98)

 

 Mothers have freedom to move around without escort

76 (98.7)

198 (99.5)

 

Environmental

 Distance from MRC clinic in km, median (IQR)

17 (10, 23)

13 (5, 23)

 

 Population size of village, median (IQR)

768 (528, 1265)

768 (610, 1265)

 

Socioeconomic status

 Education level of mother

  No formal education

23(30)

40 (20)

 

  Arabic school

40 (52)

122 (61)

 

  Less than primary school

8 (10)

24 (12)

 

  Completed primary school

6 (8)

9 (5)

 

  Completed secondary school

0

4 (2)

 

 Mother’s income

  Farming

65 (86)

163 (82)

 

  Business

4 (5)

7 (3)

 

  Salary

2 (3)

1 (1)

 

  Other

5 (6)

28 (14)

 

  Guaranteed monthly income

6 (8)

10 (5)

 

 Housing status

  Number of rooms in for sleeping household, median (IQR)

2 (2,3)

2 (2,3)

 

  Number of people in household past 6 months, median (IQR)

6 (4,8)

5 (4,7)

 

 Water and sanitation

  Toilets, n (%)¥

  Flushing

0 (0)

1 (<1)

 

  VIP latrine

1 (1)

2 (1)

 

  Traditional pit latrine

70 (92)

190 (95)

 

  No toilet

5 (7)

5 (3)

 

 Water source past 6 m, n (%)

  Piped water in house

0 (0)

1 (<1)

 

  Covered public well

0 (0)

3 (2)

 

  Public tap

69 (91)

173 (87)

 

  Open public well

5 (7)

10 (5)

 

  Open well in compound

0 (0)

1 (<1)

 

  Deep tube well

2(3)

11 (6)

 

 Accessibility to water, n (%)

  Less than 30 min

75 (97)

192 (96)

 

  30 min or more

2 (3)

7 (4)

 

  Ability to fetch drinking water daily, n (%)

75 (97)

196 (98)

 

  Number of daily trips for water, median (IQR)

5 (4,6)

5 (4,6)

–

  Water purification for drinking water done

26 (34)

76 (38)

 

 Water purification method, n (%)¥

  Filtration through cloth

25 (96)

76 (100)

 

  Filtration through ceramic

1 (4)

0 (0)

 

Principal component analysis 1

 Wealth quintiles, n (%)

  1 (Poorest)

30(39)

63 (31)

 

  2

19 (25)

54 (27)

 

  3

1(<1)

8 (4)

 

  4

11 (14)

41 (20)

 

  5 (Wealthiest)

16 (21)

37 (18)

 

Infant feeding and care practices

 Breastfeeding and complementary feeding

  Ever breastfed¥

76 (100)

194 (100)

 

  Age breastfeeding stopped, months, median (IQR)

24 (20, 24)

24 (20, 24)

 

  Age of introducing complementary foods, months, mean (SD) (prospective data collection)

5.2 (1.2)

5.1 (1.3)

 

  Commonest complementary food-coos (maize meal) porridge, n (%)

54 (65.1)

155 (70.1)

 

  Mode of feeding-spoon n (%)

75 (97)

198 (98)

 

  Frequency of complementary feeds, mean (SD)

4 (1.0)

3 (0.9)

 

Frequency of feeding per day, n (%)

 X1

0 (0)

1 (1)

 

 X2

6 (7)

17 (8)

 

 X3

26 (34)

114 (58)

 

 X4

30 (40)

46 (23)

 

 X5

11 (15)

15 (8)

 

Greater than X5

3 (4)

5 (2)

 

Scheduled feeding, n (%)

52 (70)

142 (72)

 

Own bowl at feeding time, n (%)

75 (97)

198 (98)

 

Decision-maker for feeding of infant

 Mother alone

68 (90)

188 (95)

 

 Mother and father

6 (7)

8(4)

 

 Mother and mother in law

2 (3)

1 (<1)

 

 Mother and other

0 (0)

1 (<1)

 

Decision-maker for medical care of infant

 Mother alone

51 (67)

135 (68)

 

 Mother and father

23 (30)

60 (30)

 

 Mother and mother in law

2 (3)

3 (2)

 

 Mother and other

0

1 (<1)

 

Hand washing ¥

 Water alone

7 (9)

17 (9)

 

 Water and soap

70 (91)

181 (91)

 

 Water and mud or clay

0 (0)

1 (<1)

 

Health status of infants and siblings

 Illness episodes in index child

  Diarrhoea, median (IQR)

2 (1, 4)

2 (1,4)

 

  Morbidity, median (IQR)

10 (6, 14)

9 (6,13)

 

  Number who died in first 12 months, n (%)

4 (5)

2 (<1)

 

  Number died after 12 months, n (%)

1(<1))

1 (<1)

 

 Sibling

  No sibling deaths, n (%)

22 (29)

65 (32)

 

Age in months of sibling who most recently died, median (IQR)

6 (2, 7)

2 (1, 5)

 
  1. a Two sample Student T-test ¥Missing data
  2. bN = 53
  3. cN = 169