Clinical trial NCT03454100: Community Resilience to Acute Malnutrition
Official title: Community Resilience to Acute Malnutrition
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Malnutrition, Child
Lead sponsor: Tufts University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Concern Worldwide
name: Department for International Development, United Kingdom
First posted: 2018-03-05
Enrollment: 1420
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 59
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Panel cluster randomized intervention trial
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The study evaluates the impact of a multi-sectoral intervention (water, sanitation, and hygiene; training on climate smart activities; care groups for mothers; market gardens) on the prevalence of acute malnutrition as the primary outcome using a randomized intervention trial between 2012-2017 with four points of data collection (2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017).

Detailed description: Concern Worldwide has developed a model of intervention called Community Resilience to Acute Malnutrition (CRAM). This model is based on the need for (a) the introduction of longer-term programming to build community resilience to shocks, while recognising that there may be a need for humanitarian intervention, and (b) a multi-sectoral package of activities given experience in programming from other settings. The goal of the study is to rigorously test the impact of the model and associated activities on community resilience to shocks in the Goz Beida area of Chad. Where community resilience is proxied by the primary outcome variable: acute malnutrition.

In order to answer this question, 69 villages had been randomized to either receive the full multi-sectoral program or not. In each village, approximately 20 households were surveyed (randomly selected from a household list from a previous emergency distribution) for a total of 1420 households. Those households were then surveyed in November/December 2012 (prior to the intervention), and again a the same time period in 2014, 2015, and 2017.

Data was collected on household demographics, livelihoods, child health, and nutrition, including child (6-59 months) anthropometry.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* child is from household with B, C, or D wealth ranking (wealth ranking is from A-D with A being the highest wealth and D being the lowest wealth)
* child is between the ages of 6-59 months
* child is present in the selected household at the time of the survey

Exclusion Criteria:

* child has a skin disorder
* too ill to be measured on height board or weight scale

Primary outcomes:
measure: Acute Malnutrition
timeFrame: 5 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Chronic Malnutrition
timeFrame: 5 years
measure: height for age
timeFrame: 5 years
measure: child morbidity
timeFrame: 5 years
measure: weight for height
timeFrame: 5 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Goz Beida
country: Chad
facility: Concern Worldwide Office
state: Sila Region
Study officials:
affiliation: Tufts University
name: Helen Young, DR
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Marshak A, Young H, Bontrager EN, Boyd EM. The Relationship Between Acute Malnutrition, Hygiene Practices, Water and Livestock, and Their Program Implications in Eastern Chad. Food Nutr Bull. 2017 Mar;38(1):115-127. doi: 10.1177/0379572116681682. Epub 2016 Dec 8.