Table 2.
Group comparison analysis
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | CF-FeFum | IPT | CF-FeFum + IPT | CF-FePP | |
| Participants (n) | |||||
| Baseline | 125 | 126 | 127 | 124 | 127 |
| 6 months | 104 | 111 | 103 | 114 | 117 |
| 9 months | 76 | 81 | 77 | 82 | 87 |
| Hb concentration (g/dl) | |||||
| Baseline | 9.8 ± 1.3 | 9.9 ± 1.2 | 9.8 ± 1.1 | 9.9 ± 1.1 | 9.6 ± 1.2 |
| 6 months | 9.9 ± 1.3 | 9.9 ± 1.3 | 10.0 ± 1.3 | 10.4 ± 1.4*, Ψ | 10.0 ± 1.1 |
| 9 months | 10.3 ± 1.3 | 10.4 ± 1.2 | 10.5 ± 1.2 | 10.5 ± 1.2 | 10.5 ± 1.2 |
| Anaemia | |||||
| Baseline | 81.6 % | 80.2 % | 85.0 % | 84.7 % | 86.6 % |
| 6 months | 79.8 % | 77.5 % | 77.7 % | 62.3 %*, Ψ, † | 81.9 %¥ |
| 9 months | 71.1 % | 70.4 % | 63.6 %*, Ψ | 56.1 %**, ΨΨ | 65.5 %*, Ψ |
| Plasma ferritin (µg/l) | |||||
| Baseline | 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 (28.4–115.7)†, ¥ |
| 6 months | 60.7 (35.1–114.0) | 102.4 (48.3–159.5)** | 56.5 (26.9–92.9)ΨΨ | 70.9 (42.5–133.0)*, † | 69.1 (41.8–139.7)Ψ, ¥ |
| 9 months | 49.6 (26.2–96.0) | 66.5 (45.4–117.4) | 39.4 (23.6–69.3)ΨΨ | 62.8 (39.2–92.4)† | 62.6 (41.1–107.2)¥ |
| Iron deficiency | |||||
| Baseline | 37.4 % | 40.0 % | 42.1 % | 43.9 % | 26.7 %†, ¥ |
| 6 months | 19.2 % | 5.4 %** | 27.5 %ΨΨ | 12.3 %†† | 8.6 %†† |
| 9 months | 29.3 % | 3.7 %*** | 36.4 % ΨΨ | 15.8 %Ψ,†† | 10.3 %**, †† |
| Anaemia and iron deficiency | |||||
| Baseline | 33.3 % | 32.8 % | 31.7 % | 38.2 % | 23.6 %¥ |
| 6 months | 15.4 % | 3.6 %** | 19.6 % ΨΨ | 4.4 %**,††† | 4.3 %*,†† |
| 9 months | 18.7 % | 1.2 %** | 26.0 % ΨΨ | 3.7 %**,†† | 3.4 %**, †† |
| CRP (mg/l) | |||||
| Baseline | 2.8 (1.0–11.1) | 3.4 (1.4–8.7) | 4.2 (1.4–12.0) | 3.0 (1.1–7.3) | 5.9 (1.9–21.3)*,Ψ,¥ |
| 6 months | 5.1 (1.8–18.6) | 4.6 (1.2–20.4) | 3.6 (1.2–17.3) | 3.8 (0.8–17.0) | 4.8 (1.5–14.6)*,Ψ |
| 9 months | 2.6 (1.0–7.3) | 4.3 (1.0–13.2) | 1.8 (0.5–5.9) | 1.8 (0.9–5.5) | 3.2 (1.3–14.8) |
| AGP (g/l) | |||||
| Baseline | 1.12 (0.90–1.40) | 1.27 (1.01–1.54) | 1.22 (0.96–1.62) | 1.16 (0.92–1.51) | 1.26 (0.96–1.65) |
| 6 months | 1.13 (0.88–1.41) | 1.25 (0.92–1.54) | 1.23 (0.80–1.55) | 1.04 (0.81–1.44)† | 1.10 (0.85–1.40) |
| 9 months | 1.07 (0.78–1.44) | 1.13 (0.85–1.36) | 1.10 (0.88–1.35) | 1.02 (0.79–1.23)*,†† | 1.06 (0.79–1.28) |
| Inflammation | |||||
| Baseline | 65.8 % | 76.8 % | 76.2 % | 73.2 % | 76.4 % |
| 6 months | 72.1 % | 74.8 % | 69.6 % | 57.0 %Ψ,†† | 65.5 % |
| 9 months | 57.3 % | 64.2 % | 63.6 % | 56.1 %†† | 57.5 % |
| Plasmodium prevalence | |||||
| Baseline | 62.1 % | 57.7 % | 61.4 % | 53.3 % | 66.1 % |
| 6 months | 62.5 % | 55.0 % | 44.7 %* | 45.6 %* | 64.7 %¥,† |
| 9 months | 44.7 % | 46.9 % | 35.1 %Ψ | 34.1 %Ψ | 47.1 % |
| P. falciparum parasitaemia (parasites/µl blood) | |||||
| Baseline | 1200 (208–5200) | 600 (128–3400) | 2240 (880–6920) | 688 (240–4000) | 2140 (400–7500)*,¥ |
| 6 months | 4160 (1200–10,480) | 1880 (720–6360) | 4400 (256–17,080) | 1820 (480–11,200) | 2720 (640–9040) |
| 9 months | 2740 (1080–14,640) | 2740 (840–8040) | 4520 (440–20,320) | 1920 (240–4080)Ψ, † | 4800 (960–9560)Ψ |
Data are mean ± SD, % or median (IQR). Changes between baseline to 6 months and baseline to 9 months were compared between groups with random effect models. Anaemia: Hb concentration <11 g/dl; iron deficiency: plasma ferritin <30 µg/l; inflammation: CRP ≥5.0 mg/l or AGP ≥1.0 g/l; and P. falciparum parasitaemia: parasites/µl blood, only presented for infected children at the specific time points
CF-FeFum complementary food fortified with NaFeEDTA + ferrous fumarate, CF-FePP complementary food fortified with NaFeEDTA + ferric pyrophosphate, IPT intermittent preventive treatment of malaria, AGP α-1-acid-glycoprotein, CRP C-reactive protein, Hb haemoglobin concentration, IQR interquartile range
*/**/*** Increase/decrease in groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 significantly different compared to increase/decrease in group 1, *P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001
Ψ /ΨΨ/ ΨΨΨIncrease/decrease in groups 3, 4 and 5 significantly different compared to group 2, Ψ P < 0.05, ΨΨ P < 0.01, ΨΨΨ P < 0.001
† /†† /†††Increase/decrease in groups 4 and 5 significantly different compared to group 3, † P < 0.05, †† P < 0.01, ††† P < 0.001
¥ /¥¥ /¥¥¥Increase/decrease in group 5 significantly different compared to group 4, ¥ P < 0.05, ¥¥ P < 0.01, ¥¥¥ P < 0.001