Soya, maize and sorghum ready-to-use therapeutic foods are more effective in correcting anaemia and iron deficiency than the standard ready-to-use therapeutic food: randomized controlled trial

Table 3 Prevalence of anaemia, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia at admission

Criteria	n	%	(95%CI
Prevalence of anaemia
All children	386	48.9	(41.4–56.5)
Anaemia by admission age
< 24 months	226	50.3	(43.3–56.7)
≥ 24 months	160	46.9	(39.7–57.3)
Anaemia by sex
Boys	200	44.5	(34.2–55.2)
Girls	186	53.7	(45.0–62.2)
Prevalence of iron deficiency
By plasma sTfR (> 8.3 mg/L)
All children	343	55.7	(48.6–62.5)
No β-thalassemia	290	53.4	(45.0–61.7)
No inflammation	41	64.9	(44.4–81.0)
No inflammation and β-thalassemia	29	58.6	(36.5–77.7)
Children < 24 months still breastfed	154	70.8	(62.9–77.6)
Children< 24 months not breastfed	46	45.6	(32.2–59.7)
Among non-anaemic	177	42.9	(35.5–50.6)
Among anaemic children	166	69.3	(61.7–76.2)
By body iron stores criterion
Low iron stores (0 and 2.9 mg.kg⁻¹)	343	29.1	(24.4–34.4)
Depleted iron stores (< 0 mg.kg⁻¹)	343	26.2	(21.8–31.1)
Low or depleted iron stores(< 3 mg.kg⁻¹)
Among all children	343	55.4	(50.0–60.7)
Among non-anaemic children	177	52.0	(44.3–59.5)
Among anaemic children	166	59.0	(51.1–66.6)
Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia
By plasma sTfR criterion(> 8.3 mg/L)	343	33.5	(28.5–38.8)
By body iron stores criterion (< 3 mg/kg)	343	28.6	(23.8–33.7)

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