The risk approach to intervention in severe malnutrition in rural Bangladesh

Socio-economic risk factors for early childhood underweight in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Underweight is a major cause of global disease burden. It is associated with child mortality and morbidity, and its adverse impact on human performance and child survival is well recognized. Underweight is a major public health problem in Bangladesh, which is amongst the highest underweight prevalent countries in the world. The objectives of our study were to determine the national and regional prevalence rates of underweight and severe underweight in Bangladesh, and to investigate the association of socioeconomic and demographic factors with child underweight and severely underweight among children under the age of five living in Bangladesh.

METHODS

We performed a cross sectional study using Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey 2012-13, Bangladesh data on 17,133 children under 5 years of age. Weight-for-age Z scores based upon World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines were used to define child underweight and severe underweight. The association of underweight and severe underweight with household socioeconomic factors and demographic characteristics was investigated using binary logistic regression model.

RESULTS

An estimated 31.67% children were underweight and 8.81% children were severely underweight. Children of mothers with incomplete secondary education [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75, 0.94] and mothers with completed secondary education [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.93] were less likely to be underweight than children of uneducated mothers who had no formal schooling. A similar association exists for father's education, children from households in the highest wealth index quintile had lower likelihood of underweight [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.53] than children from households in the lowest quintile. Consumption of non-iodized salt had higher risk of severe underweight for children aged between 24 and 35 months [Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.80, 3.00]. Other risk factors of child severe underweight included living in Sylhet division and increases in the number of children under the age of five in a household.

CONCLUSION

Underweight was associated with lower parental education, household position in lower wealth index, living in Sylhet division and consumption of non-iodized salt. Strategies are discussed considering the relative importance of risk factors for child underweight.

Maternal anthropometry-based screening and pregnancy outcome: a decision analysis

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of screening and intervention based on maternal height, prepregnancy weight and weight during weeks 16-19 or 24-27 in reducing adverse pregnancy outcomes (IUGR, preterm birth and assisted delivery) in developing country settings.

METHODS

Decision analysis based on a recent multicentre WHO collaborative study of maternal anthropometry and pregnancy outcomes and meta-analyses of controlled clinical trials of balanced energy/protein supplementation (for IUGR and preterm birth) and support from caregivers during labour (for assisted delivery). Subjects for the analysis comprised pregnant women from Cali, Colombia (1989, n = 4598); urban and rural Pune, India (1990, n = 4307); and urban and rural Myanmar (1981-82, n = 3542) followed until delivery.

RESULTS

Seven to 45% of pregnant women had positive screens, with preventive fractions (PFs) ranging from 0.034 to 0.109 for IUGR, 0.027-0.082 for preterm birth and 0.011-0.105 for assisted delivery. Screening prevention ratios (SPRs = ratios of the number of women treated to the number of cases of adverse outcome prevented) are high in all three study settings for preterm birth and assisted delivery (range 22.8-115.7) and low in settings with a high prevalence of the adverse outcome and high specificity of the anthropometric measure (India for IUGR, range 7.0-8.0). Sensitivity analyses demonstrate a marked linear fall in PF and an exponential rise in the SPR as the relative risk associated with intervention increases (i.e. as the protective benefit of intervention decreases) from 0.60 to 0.95.

CONCLUSIONS

A maternal anthropometry-based 'risk approach' is unlikely to result in a major reduction in adverse pregnancy outcomes in developing country settings. For risk-free and inexpensive interventions (e.g. caregiver support during labour), a better strategy would be to forego screening and instead treat all pregnant women.