A Prospective Comparison of Standard and Modified Acute Malnutrition Treatment Protocols during COVID-19 in South Sudan-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

A Prospective Comparison of Standard and Modified Acute Malnutrition Treatment Protocols during COVID-19 in South Sudan

Published:2023-11-21 Issue:23 Volume:15 Page:4853
ISSN:2072-6643
Container-title:Nutrients
language:en
Short-container-title:Nutrients

Author:

Doocy Shannon¹^ORCID,King Sarah²³^ORCID,Ismail Sule³⁴,Leidman Eva³,Stobaugh Heather²^ORCID,

Affiliation:

1. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

2. Action Against Hunger, New York, NY 10004, USA

3. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA

4. Integral Global Consulting, Atlanta, GA 30084, USA

Abstract

A non-randomized prospective cohort study was conducted in 2022 to compare recovery rate and length of stay (LoS) for acutely malnourished children treated under South Sudan’s standard Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) protocol and a COVID-modified protocol. Children aged 6–59 months received acute malnutrition (AM) treatment under the standard or modified protocol (mid-upper-arm circumference-only entry/exit criteria and simplified dosing). Primary (recovery rate and LoS) were compared for outpatient therapeutic (OTP) and therapeutic supplementary feeding programs (TSFP) using descriptive statistics and mixed-effects models. Children admitted to OTP under both protocols were similar in age and sex; children admitted to TSFP were significantly older under the modified protocol than the standard protocol. Shorter LoS and higher recovery rates were observed under the modified protocol for both OTP (recovery: 93.3% vs. 87.2%; LoS: 38.3 vs. 42.8 days) and TSFP (recovery: 79.8% vs. 72.7%; LoS: 54.0 vs. 61.9 days). After adjusting for site and child characteristics, neither differences in adjusted odds of recovery [OTP: 2.63; TSFP 1.80] nor LoS [OTP −10.0; TSFP −7.8] remained significant. Modified protocols for AM performed well. Adjusted models indicate similar treatment outcomes to the standard protocol. Adopting simplified protocols could be beneficial post-pandemic; however, recovery and relapse will need to be monitored.

Funder

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Food Science,Nutrition and Dietetics

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/23/4853/pdf

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