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. 2015 Jul 23;2015(7):CD000371. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000371.pub6

Dossa 2001

Methods RCT
Length of follow‐up: 10 months
Participants All children living in endemic area
Number analysed for primary outcome: 65
Age range: 3 to 5 years
Inclusion criteria: children aged 3 to 5 years; not acutely unwell
Exclusion criteria: none stated
Interventions Multiple doses vs placebo:

  1. Albendazole plus iron: 200 mg albendazole per day for 3 consecutive days repeated 1 month later plus iron;

  2. Placebo plus iron;

  3. Albendazole: 200 mg per day for 3 consecutive days repeated 1 month later plus iron placebo;

  4. Placebo plus placebo.
Outcomes

  1. Mean change in weight post‐treatment;

  2. Mean change in height post‐treatment;

  3. Mean change in MUAC;

  4. Mean change in triceps skinfold thickness;

  5. Mean haemoglobin post‐treatment.


Not included in review: weight‐for‐height z‐score and height‐for‐age z‐score at 3 and 10 months (both after 2 doses).
Measured but not reported: z‐scores for weight‐for‐height, height for age using NCHS reference data; egg count (arithmetic and geometric mean); prevalence, intensity; food intake over 3 days in subset at end of trial (not at baseline).
Notes Location: Benin
Community category: 2
Source of funding: The Nestle Foundation (Lausanne, Switzerland).Smithkline Beecham provided the deworming and placebo tablets.
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Unclear risk "Randomly assigned". No further details provided.
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk No details reported.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes Unclear risk "Double‐blind". No further details provided.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes High risk 175/177 children finished the trial, but 140 were included in the final analysis: “One child was treated for severe worm infection and 34 children received other pills during the trial period (iron, vitamins/minerals or deworming pills that were not provided by our research team).” Inclusion of all randomized participants (number evaluable/number randomized): 79% (140/177).
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Low risk All stated outcomes reported.
Other bias High risk No obvious other source of bias.