Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the randomised study groups
| Intervention(s) | Group 1 (n = 125) | Group 2 (n = 126) | Group 3 (n = 127) | Group 4 (n = 124) | Group 5 (n = 127) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | CF-FeFum | IPT | CF-FeFum + IPT | CF-FePP | ||||||
| Clusters | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||||
| Girls | 65 | (52.0 %) | 57 | (45.2 %) | 65 | (51.2 %) | 65 | (52.4 %) | 64 | (50.2 %) |
| Age (mo) | 23.3 | (6.9) | 23.5 | (7.2) | 22.9 | (7.0) | 23.8 | (6.4) | 23.4 | (7.1) |
| Haemoglobin conc. (g/dl) | 9.8 | (1.3) | 9.9 | (1.2) | 9.8 | (1.1) | 9.9 | (1.1) | 9.6 | (1.2) |
| Anaemia | 102 | (81.6 %) | 101 | (80.2 %) | 108 | (85.0 %) | 105 | (84.7 %) | 110 | (86.6 %) |
| Plasma ferritin (µg/l) | 37.7 | (18.3–72.4) | 36.2 | (21.6–66.0) | 37.5 | (16.9–74.9) | 36.7 | (18.2–68.4) | 53.0 | (28.3–115.7) |
| Iron deficiency | 47 | (37.4 %) | 50 | (40.0 %) | 53 | (42.1 %) | 54 | (43.9 %) | 34 | (26.8 %) |
| Plasmodium prevalence | 78 | (62.1 %) | 73 | (57.7 %) | 78 | (61.4 %) | 66 | (53.3 %) | 84 | (66.1 %) |
| P. falciparum parasitaemiaa | 1200 | (208–5200) | 600 | (128–3400) | 2240 | (880–6920) | 688 | (240–4000) | 2140 | (400–7500) |
| Height (cm) | 79.2 | (6.8) | 78.5 | (7.5) | 79.7 | (6.7) | 79.7 | (6.6) | 78.6 | (6.8) |
| Body weight (kg) | 10.5 | (9.0–12.0) | 11.0 | (9.0–12.0) | 11.0 | (9.5–13.0) | 10.8 | (9.5–12.4) | 10.0 | (9.0–12.0) |
Data are mean (SD), n (%) or median (interquartile range). Anaemia: Hb concentration <11 g/dl; iron deficiency: plasma ferritin <30 µg/l
CF-FeFum complementary food fortified with NaFeEDTA + ferrous fumarate, CF-FePP complementary food fortified with NaFeEDTA + ferric pyrophosphate, IPT intermittent preventive treatment of malaria
aparasites/µl of blood, only presented for infected children