Dataset Information

Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The WHO Guidelines for the inpatient treatment of severely malnourished children include a recommendation to provide sensory stimulation or play therapy for children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). This systematic review was performed to synthesize evidence around this recommendation. Specifically, the objective was to answer the question: "In children with severe acute malnutrition, does psychosocial stimulation improve child developmental, nutritional, or other outcomes?"

Methods

A review protocol was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO 2016: CRD42016036403). MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched with terms related to SAM and psychosocial stimulation. Studies were selected if they applied a stimulation intervention in children with SAM and child developmental and nutritional outcomes were assessed. Findings were presented within a narrative synthesis and a summary of findings table. Quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Findings

Only two studies, both non-randomized controlled trials, met the selection criteria for this review. One was conducted in Jamaica (1975) with a follow-up period of 14 years; the other was done in Bangladesh (2002) with a six-month follow-up. At the individual study level, each of the included studies demonstrated significant differences in child development outcomes between intervention and control groups. Only the study conducted in Bangladesh demonstrated a clinically significant increase in weight-for-age z-scores in the intervention group compared to the control group.

Conclusions

The evidence supporting the recommendation of psychosocial stimulation for children with SAM is not only sparse, but also of very low quality across important outcomes. High-quality trials are needed to determine the effects of psychosocial stimulation interventions on outcomes in children with SAM.

SUBMITTER: Daniel AI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5441448 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review.

Daniel Allison I AI Bandsma Robert H RH Lytvyn Lyubov L Voskuijl Wieger P WP Potani Isabel I van den Heuvel Meta M

Journal of global health 20170601 1

<h4>Background</h4>The WHO <i>Guidelines for the inpatient treatment of severely malnourished children</i> include a recommendation to provide sensory stimulation or play therapy for children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). This systematic review was performed to synthesize evidence around this recommendation. Specifically, the objective was to answer the question: "In children with severe acute malnutrition, does psychosocial stimulation improve child developmental, nutritional, or other ...[more]

PMID: 28567278

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Project description:BackgroundChildren hospitalized with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have poor long-term outcomes following discharge, with high rates of mortality, morbidity, and impaired neurodevelopment. There is currently minimal guidance on how to support children with SAM following discharge from inpatient treatment.ObjectivesThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine whether postdischarge interventions can improve outcomes in children recovering from complicated SAM.MethodsSystematic searches of 4 databases were undertaken to identify studies of interventions delivered completely or partially after hospital discharge in children aged 6-59 mo, following inpatient treatment of SAM. The main outcome of interest was mortality. Random-effects meta-analysis was undertaken where ≥2 studies were sufficiently similar in intervention and outcome.ResultsTen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria, recruiting 39-1781 participants in 7 countries between 1975 and 2015. Studies evaluated provision of zinc (2 studies), probiotics or synbiotics (2 studies), antibiotics (1 study), pancreatic enzymes (1 study), and psychosocial stimulation (4 studies). Six studies had unclear or high risk of bias in ≥2 domains. Compared with standard care, pancreatic enzyme supplementation reduced inpatient mortality (37.8% compared with 18.6%, P < 0.05). In meta-analysis there was some evidence that prebiotics or synbiotics reduced mortality (RR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.51, 1.00; P = 0.049). Psychosocial stimulation reduced mortality in meta-analysis of the 2 trials reporting deaths (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.87), and improved neurodevelopmental scores in ≥1 domain in all studies. There was no evidence that zinc reduced mortality in the single study reporting deaths. Antibiotics reduced infectious morbidity but did not reduce mortality.ConclusionsSeveral biological and psychosocial interventions show promise in improving outcomes in children following hospitalization for SAM and require further exploration in larger randomized mortality trials. This study was registered with PROSPERO as CRD42018111342 (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=111342).

Project description:BackgroundCurrent (1999) World Health Organization guidelines recommend giving routine antibiotics (AB) for all children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM), even if they have uncomplicated disease with no clinically obvious infections. We examined the evidence behind this recommendation.Methods and findingsOVID-MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE, GLOBAL-HEALTH, CINAHL, POPLINE, AFRICA-WIDE-NiPAD, and LILACS were searched for AB efficacy, bacterial resistance, and infection rates in SAM. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. Three randomised controlled trials (RCT), five Cochrane reviews, and 37 observational studies were identified. One cohort-study showed no increase in nutritional-cure and mortality in uncomplicated SAM where no AB were used. (p>0.05). However, an unpublished RCT in this setting did show mortality benefits. Another RCT did not show superiority of ceftriaxone over amoxicilllin for these same outcomes, but adressed SAM children with and without complications (p = 0.27). Another RCT showed no difference between amoxicillin and cotrimoxazole efficacies for pneumonia in underweight, but not SAM. Our meta-analysis of 12 pooled susceptibility-studies for all types of bacterial isolates, including 2767 stricly SAM children, favoured amoxicillin over cotrimoxazole for susceptibility medians: 42% (IQR 27-55%) vs 22% (IQR 17-23%) and population-weighted-means 52.9% (range 23-57%) vs 35.4% (range 6.7-42%). Susceptibilities to second-line AB were better, above 80%. Prevalence of serious infections in SAM, pooled from 24 studies, ranged from 17% to 35.2%. No study infered any association of infection prevalence with AB regimens in SAM.ConclusionsThe evidence underlying current antibiotic recommendations for uncomplicated SAM is weak. Susceptibility-studies favour amoxicillin over cotrimoxazole. However, given that these antibiotics have side-effects, costs, and risks as well as benefits, their routine use needs urgent testing. With reliable monitoring, we believe that there is sufficient equipoise for placebo controlled RCTs, the only robust way to demonstrate true efficacy.

Project description:BackgroundChildren with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) who require nutritional rehabilitation unit (NRU) treatment often have poor developmental and nutritional outcomes following discharge. The Kusamala Program is a 4-d hospital-based counseling program for caregivers of children with SAM that integrates nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene and psychosocial stimulation, aimed at improving these outcomes.ObjectivesThe aim was to evaluate the effects of the Kusamala Program on child development and nutritional status in children with SAM 6 mo after NRU discharge. The other aim was to qualitatively understand perceptions and experiences of caregivers who participated in the intervention.MethodsA cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted with caregivers and their children 6-59 mo of age with SAM admitted to the Moyo NRU in Blantyre, Malawi. The primary outcome of the trial was child development according to Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT) composite z-scores of gross motor, fine motor, language, and social domains. A qualitative component with focus group discussions and in-depth interviews was also completed with a subset of caregivers who participated in the trial.ResultsSixty-eight caregivers and children were enrolled to clusters by week and randomly assigned to the comparison arm and 104 to the intervention arm. There were no differences in child development, with mean MDAT composite z-scores in the comparison arm of -1.2 (95% CI: -2.1, -0.22) and in the intervention arm of -1.1 (95% CI: -1.9, -0.40) (P = 0.93). The qualitative evaluation with 20 caregivers indicated that the 3 modules of the Kusamala Program were appropriate and that they applied many of the lessons learned at home as much as possible.ConclusionsThe Kusamala Program did not result in improved developmental or nutritional outcomes, yet it was viewed positively by caregivers according to qualitative results. Future research should evaluate more intensive interventions for caregivers and children with SAM. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03072433.

Project description:BackgroundMalnutrition underlies 45% of under-5 deaths globally. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most serious form of undernutrition, characterized by wasting with or without edema. Mortality remains high (10%-40%) among children requiring hospitalization for complicated SAM.ObjectivesWe aimed to systematically document the factors independently associated with inpatient mortality in children with SAM.MethodsEmbase, Ovid MEDINE, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for articles published between January 2000 and January 2020, using a prespecified protocol. Eligible studies included children aged ≤59 mo hospitalized with SAM and used multivariable analysis to assess the baseline factors independently associated with inpatient mortality. Random-effects meta-analysis, stratified by the stated measure of effect, was used where >20% of studies included the same factor in analyses.ResultsTwenty-eight of 1432 studies fulfilled inclusion criteria: 19 studies included all children with SAM and 9 included specific subgroups of children with SAM. All 19 main studies were from 8 countries across Africa, with a median of 400 children/study. The mean inpatient mortality was 15.7% (95% CI: 10.4%, 21.0%) and HIV prevalence ranged from 2.1% to 51%. Nine factors were included in the meta-analysis, stratified by HR and OR. HIV infection (HR: 4.32; 95% CI: 2.31, 8.08), weight-for-height z score (WHZ) (OR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.80), diarrhea (HR: 2.84; 95% CI: 1.40, 5.75), pneumonia (HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.19, 3.02), presence of shock (HR: 3.67; 95% CI: 2.24, 6.03), and lack of appetite (HR: 2.16; 95% CI: 1.48, 3.16) were associated with increased mortality, whereas child age and sex were not. The association between edema and mortality was difficult to ascertain from the available studies.ConclusionsHIV infection, diarrhea, pneumonia, shock, lack of appetite, and lower WHZ are independent predictors of inpatient mortality in children with SAM. These factors may help to risk-stratify children being hospitalized with complicated SAM.This systematic review/meta-analysis protocol was registered at www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero as CRD42019152267.

Project description:BackgroundInformed consent is a universally accepted precondition for scientific researches involving human participants. However, various factors influence the process of obtaining authentic informed consent, and researchers particularly working in resource-poor countries often face considerable difficulties in implementing the universally recommended procedures for obtaining informed consent. We have conducted this Rapid Ethical Assessment (REA) to accommodate the local cultural norms and to understand the relevant ethical issues in the Silti community before the conduct of a cluster-randomized controlled trial.MethodsThis REA was conducted in two purposively selected Woredas/Districts and Worabe Town administration of Silti Zone. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Five in-depth interviews and 15 Focus Group Discussions were conducted in the Amharic language. The collected data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed using a thematic approach.ResultMost of the community members never heard about research and therapeutic misconception was common. In the area, the permission of people working in the formal and informal community administration is essential before approaching individuals. The male head of the household should also be involved in the decision before individual household members participate in research. Furthermore, sensitizing the community using public and religious gatherings was suggested before individual recruitment. In the consent process, delivering selected information particularly the purpose and benefits of the research was emphasized and the tendency of preferring verbal consent was documented despite the willingness of the individuals to sign on the consent form. Local health workers were identified as appropriate personnel to communicate information and the procedures of the research were found to be acceptable. However, the value of small incentives was suggested to motivate potential participants. Finally, involving all concerned stakeholders and respecting the cultural norm of the community was emphasized.ConclusionThrough REA, we understand the research awareness of the community, their expectation, and the cultural norms relevant to the ethical conduct of research. It enabled us to devise culturally sensitive and scientifically sound strategies to secure authentic informed consent. The process of conducting REA was found to be feasible, quick, and efficient.

Dataset Information

Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review.

Background

Methods

Findings

Conclusions

Publications

Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review.

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