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) | Â |
Scheduled feeding, n (%) | 52 (70) | 142 (72) | Â |
Own bowl at feeding time, n (%) | 75 (97) | 198 (98) | Â |
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) | Â |