Table 3.
Characteristics of Bogandé pupils and serum retinol changes
| G1 (Controls) | G2 (VA capsule) | G3 (Red palm oil) | |||||||
| Baseline (T0) | Endline (T1) | p value | Baseline (T0) | Endline (T1) | p value | Baseline (T0) | Endline (T1) | p value | |
| Total | (n = 106) | (n = 117) | (n = 114) | ||||||
| % girls | 43 (34–52) | - | - | 49.0 (40–58) | - | - | 49.0 (40–58) | - | - |
| Age (months) | 94 ± 20 | - | - | 101 ± 20 | - | - | 102 ± 22 | - | - |
| Height-for-age Z-score | ††0.55 ± 1.90 | ††0.43 ± 1.6 | 0.61 | †† -0.16 ± 1.50 | †† -0.33 ± 1.20 | 0.33 | ††-0.38 ± 1.56 | †† -0.33 ± 1.20 | 0.78 |
| BMI-for-age Z-score | -0.91 ± 0.94 | -1.25 ± 1.27 | 0.022 | -0.93 ± 0.96 | -1.34 ± 1.00 | 0.002 | -1.13 ± 0.88 | -1.40 ± 0.99 | 0.03 |
| Mean serum retinol (μmol/L) | |||||||||
| Total | **0.96 ± 0.36 | 0.94 ± 0.30 | 0.66 | **0.77 ± 0.28 | 0.98 ± 0.33 | <0.001 | **0.82 ± 0.30 | 0.98 ± 0.33 | <0.001 |
| Girls | 0.96 ± 0.35 | 0.99 ± 0.30 | 0.66 | 0.77 ± 0.29 | 1.00 ± 0.34 | <0.001 | 0.83 ± 0.30 | 0.96 ± 0.26 | 0.010 |
| Boys | 0.95 ± 0.38 | 0.91 ± 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.78 ± 0.27 | 0.97 ± 0.32 | <0.001 | 0.81 ± 0.29 | 0.96 ± 0.26 | 0.020 |
| Serum retinol <0.70 μmol/L (%) | |||||||||
| Total | ‡23.6 (15.6–31.6) | 14.2 (8.2–20.2) | 0.08 | ‡46.1 (36.7–56.7) | 17.1 (10.1–27.1) | <0.001 | ‡40.4 (31.4–49.4) | 14.9 (8.9–20.9) | <0.001 |
| Girls | ‡‡15.5 (5.5–25.5) | 13.3 (4.3–22.3) | 0.76 | ‡‡45,6 (33.6–57.6) | 14.0 (5.0–23.0) | <0.001 | ‡‡36.4 (24.4–48.4) | 9.1 (2.1–16.1) | <0.001 |
| Boys | ‡‡25.5 (15.5–35.5) | 14.8 (6.8–22.8) | 0.24 | ‡‡46.7 (34.7–58.7) | 20.0 (10.0–30.0) | 0.002 | ‡‡44.1 (32.1–56.1) | 20.3 (10.3–30.3) | 0.006 |
| % Serum retinol <0.35 μmol/L | 0.0 | 2.0 | - | 0 | 1.0 | - | 0 | 0 | - |
| Mean serum retinol change in <0.7 μmol/L subjects at baseline (%) | |||||||||
| - | †38.0 ± 47.1 N = 25 | - | - | †87.5 ± 111.2 N = 54 | - | - | †63.1 ± 65.7 N = 46 | - | |
| Mean serum retinol change in ≥0.70 μmol/L subjects at baseline (%) | |||||||||
| - | -2.0 ± 29.0 N = 81 | - | 9.6 ± 33.9 N = 63 | - | - | 6.9 ± 39.2 N = 68 | - | ||
Mean ± SD or % (CI 95%)
** At T0, mean serum retinol significantly higher in group G1 than in G2 and G3 (p < 0.001)
‡ At T0, rate of low serum retinol significantly lower in group G1 than in G2 and G3 (p = 0.012)
‡‡ The rate of very low serum retinol not different in boys and girls in the three groups G1, G2 and G3 (p = 0.83, 0.90 and 0.40, respectively)
†Change [100*(Serum retinol T1 - serum retinol T0)/Serum retinol T0]: Significantly higher in initially deficient subjects of groups G2 and G3 than in G1 (p < 0.001)
††At T0 and T1, the pupils from G1 were significantly taller than those in G2 and G3 (p < 0.001)