Table 2.

Correlation between orphanhood and ill-health and malnutrition for round one of the Manicaland Child Cohort Study (MCCS). This table shows the correlation between orphanhood and ill-health and malnutrition in round one of the MCCS. Logistic regression analysis was used to establish whether orphaned children were more or less likely to experience detrimental health outcomes.

		Comparison group non-orphans		All orphans
	Age-group	N	%	N	%	AOR*	p-value
Round 1
All vaccinations received
Yes	0–6	56	95	56	92	1
No		3	5	5	8	1.19	0.83
All vaccinations + health card seen
All vaccinations + health card seen	0–6	34	69	25	52	1
All vaccinations + health card not seen		15	31	23	48	2.00	0.12
Child ill in last 2 weeks
No illness	0–6	49	83	54	81	1
Yes – fever or diarrhoea		10	17	13	19	1.62	0.35
Good health or ill in the last   few months?
Good health	0–17	155	70	531	68	1
Recurring minor illness		50	23	203	26	1.24	0.24
Serious illness		15	7	47	6	0.93	0.82
How long since last experienced illness?
More than a year	0–17	73	50	379	51	1
Less than a year		72	50	369	49	0.90	0.56
Treatment seeking – if ill in   last 12 months
Appropriate treatment   (hospital, clinic, VCW)	0–17	84	74	261	71	1
No treatment or inappropriate treatment		29	26	109	29	1.20	0.47
Stunting **
No	5.17	553	75	164	71	1	1
Yes		186	25	68	29	1.15	0.42
Wasting
No	0–17	197	89	784	97	1	1
Yes		25	11	28	3	0.58	0.08
Underweight
No	0–17	161	73	607	75	1	1
Yes		61	27	202	25	0.95	0.77
Low BMI (<2 Z-scores)
No	2–17	159	76	672	83	1	1
Yes		51	24	137	17	0.78	0.19

^*Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) controlled for the child’s age and sex;

^**orphans in the stunting comparison are children who lost their parent(s) before the age of five years.