| Literature DB >> 31150484 |
Dorothy Wei1, Rachel Brigell1, Aayush Khadka1, Nicole Perales1,2, Günther Fink1,3.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: While school-aged children in low- and middle-income countries remain highly exposed to acute infections, programs targeting this age group remain limited in scale and scope. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a new and comprehensive primary school-based health intervention program on student-reported morbidity and anthropometric outcomes in Lusaka, Zambia.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2019 PMID: 31150484 PMCID: PMC6544295 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217893
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Fig 1Sampling procedure of school-aged children in Lusaka, Zambia, 2015–2016.
Baseline characteristics of study participants.
| Characteristic | Full Sample | Control | Intervention | P-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | ||
| Female | 380 | 52.11 | 51.85 | 52.36 | 0.76 | |||
| Age (years) | 380 | 9.77 (2.56) | 9.32 (2.44) | 10.2 (2.62) | 0.39 | |||
| Above Grade 3 | 380 | 42.36 | 39.67 | 46.67 | 0.66 | |||
| Wealth quintile | 370 | 2.94 (1.4) | 2.84 (1.4) | 3.04 (1.39) | 0.43 | |||
| Received deworming medication in past 6 months | 375 | 37.07 | 32.98 | 41.18 | 0.45 | |||
| Received vitamins at school in past 6 months | 373 | 38.07 | 35.71 | 42.55 | 0.27 | |||
| Confidence in teacher’s ability to help with health | 373 | 93.83 | 92.97 | 94.68 | 0.94 | |||
| Perceived access to care as easy | 373 | 78.02 | 81.7 | 74.33 | 0.45 | |||
| Weight (kg) | 377 | 29.1 (8.63) | 28.6 (8.72) | 29.79 (8.52) | 0.62 | |||
| Thin | 378 | 3.97 | 2.67 | 5.23 | 0.80 | |||
| Overweight | 378 | 13.49 | 17.11 | 9.95 | 0.38 | |||
| Stunted | 378 | 15.08 | 11.80 | 18.3 | 0.38 | |||
| Absent | 378 | 47.62 | 47.06 | 48.17 | 0.76 | |||
| Health knowledge (z-score) | 380 | 0 (1) | -0.17 (1.04) | 0.16 (0.93) | 0.099 | |||
* p-value based on a two-sample mean comparison test with standard errors clustered at the school level.
Fig 2Meta-analysis of estimated morbidity reductions.
Meta-analysis of estimated morbidity reductions among school-aged children in Lusaka, Zambia, 2015–2016. The overall estimate is based on random-effect meta-analysis. The coefficients and confidence intervals underlying this meta-analysis were computed through separate logistic regression models for each morbidity measure. All logistic models controlled for the illness outcome at baseline and baseline values of: age, grade, sex, wealth quintiles, deworming, vitamin A, confidence in teachers, perceived access to care, weight, thinness, overweight, stunting, health knowledge score, and absenteeism.
Intervention impact on anthropometric outcomes.
| Unadjusted Model | Adjusted Model | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean difference | 1.41 | 0.17 |
| 95% CI | (-6.03–8.85) | (-1.11–1.44) |
| Mean among controls | 31.60 | 31.60 |
| N | 361 | 361 |
| OR | 1.40 | 1.03 |
| 95% CI | (0.56–3.51) | (0.27–3.94) |
| % among controls | 4.57% | 4.57% |
| N | 350 | 350 |
| OR | 0.33 | 0.54 |
| 95% CI | (0.13–0.86) | (0.23–1.30) |
| % among controls | 12.00% | 12.00% |
| N | 350 | 350 |
| OR | 0.86 | 0.48 |
| 95% CI | (0.41–1.81) | (0.26–0.87) |
| % among controls | 14.29% | 14.29% |
| N | 350 | 350 |
*** p<0.01,
** p<0.05,
* p<0.1
Note: Estimates from linear (weight) and logistic (all other outcomes) regression. Adjusted models controlled for baseline values of: age, grade, sex, wealth quintiles, deworming, vitamin A, confidence in teachers, perceived access to care, weight, thinness, overweight, stunting, health knowledge score, and absenteeism. 95% confidence intervals shown in parentheses were clustered at the school level using Huber’s cluster robust variance estimator.
Fig 3Change in proportion of children in stunting category from baseline to endline.
Changes in the prevalence of stunting and severe stunting between baseline and endline for intervention and control groups in Lusaka, Zambia, 2015–2016.
Intervention impact on health knowledge and absenteeism.
| Unadjusted Model | Adjusted Model | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean difference | 0.62 | 0.53 |
| 95% CI | (0.06–1.18) | (0.24–0.81) |
| Mean among controls | -0.31 | -0.31 |
| N | 364 | 364 |
| OR | 0.96 | 0.89 |
| 95% CI | (0.62–1.50) | (0.60–1.33) |
| % among controls | 43.72% | 43.72% |
| N | 363 | 363 |
*** p<0.01,
** p<0.05,
* p<0.1
Note: Estimates from linear (health knowledge) and logistic (absent) regression.
Adjusted models controlled for baseline values of: age, grade, sex, wealth quintiles, deworming, vitamin A, confidence in teachers, perceived access to care, weight, thinness, overweight, stunting, health knowledge score, and absenteeism. 95% confidence intervals shown in parentheses were clustered at the school level using Huber’s cluster robust variance estimator.
Intervention impact on access to health services.
| Unadjusted Model | Adjusted Model | |
|---|---|---|
| OR | 9.24 | 11.24 |
| 95% CI | (4.43–19.27) | (4.84–26.15) |
| % among controls | 37.10% | 37.10% |
| N | 352 | 352 |
| OR | 9.50 | 11.19 |
| 95% CI | (5.0–18.03) | (5.18–24.17) |
| % among controls | 37.64% | 37.64% |
| N | 353 | 353 |
| OR | 3.85 | 4.49 |
| 95% CI | (1.58–9.37) | (1.77–11.38) |
| % among controls | 83.15% | 83.15% |
| N | 358 | 358 |
| OR | 2.51 | 2.99 |
| 95% CI | (1.30–4.86) | (1.42–6.31) |
| % among controls | 80.11% | 80.11% |
| N | 354 | 354 |
*** p<0.01,
** p<0.05,
* p<0.1
Note: Estimates from logistic regression. Adjusted models controlled for baseline values of: age, grade, sex, wealth quintiles, deworming, vitamin A, confidence in teachers, perceived access to care, weight, thinness, overweight, stunting, health knowledge score, and absenteeism. 95% confidence intervals shown in parentheses were clustered at the school level using Huber’s cluster robust variance estimator.