Table 2.
Between‐intervention arm differences in primary and secondary outcomes
| Tablets | LNS | P‐values for between‐arm differencesa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FeFol | MMN | PE | PE + MMN | |||
| N = 146 | N = 164 | N = 151 | N = 159 | |||
| Primary outcomes | ||||||
| 20 weeks gestation visit | ||||||
| Femur length z‐scoreb (N = 10 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.29 (1.25) | −0.28 (1.27) | 0.13 (1.29) | −0.22 (1.26) | .012 |
| Head circumference z‐scoreb (N = 8 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.07 (1.20) | −0.02 (1.18) | 0.20 (1.12) | 0.04 (1.15) | .222 |
| Bi‐parietal diameter z‐scoreb (N = 8 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.96 (1.08) | −0.91 (0.95) | −0.74 (0.99) | −0.83 (0.97) | .244 |
| Occipital‐frontal diameter z‐scoreb (N = 8 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.13 (1.30) | −0.09 (1.31) | 0.14 (1.31) | −0.03 (1.32) | .316 |
| Abdominal circumference z‐scoreb (N = 9 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.54 (1.20) | −0.68 (1.15) | −0.30 (1.17) | −0.39 (1.19) | .024 |
| 30 weeks gestation visit | ||||||
| Femur length z‐scoreb (N = 10 missing) | Mean (SD) | 0.32 (1.20) | 0.25 (1.25) | 0.42 (1.24) | 0.33 (1.19) | .662 |
| Head circumference z‐scoreb (N = 7 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.42 (1.13) | −0.58 (0.96) | −0.18 (1.03) | −0.39 (1.04) | .010 |
| Bi‐parietal diameter z‐scoreb (N = 4 missing) | Mean (SD) | −1.04 (0.98) | −1.09 (0.86) | −0.82 (0.87) | −0.94 (0.89) | .044 |
| Occipital‐frontal diameter z‐scoreb (N = 5 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.39 (1.06) | −0.39 (1.00) | −0.28 (1.07) | −0.41 (1.10) | .689 |
| Abdominal circumference z‐scoreb (N = 7 missing) | Mean (SD) | 0.01 (1.15) | −0.11 (1.06) | 0.18 (1.09) | 0.05 (1.01) | .123 |
| Birth visit | ||||||
| Weight z‐scorec | Mean (SD) | −0.71 (0.84) | −0.63 (0.94) | −0.64 (0.87) | −0.62 (0.86) | .796 |
| Length z‐scorec (N = 2 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.16 (0.90) | −0.15 (1.03) | −0.23 (0.96) | −0.05 (0.90) | .418 |
| Head circumference z‐scorec (N = 4 missing) | Mean (SD) | −0.84 (1.08) | −0.86 (1.11) | −0.94 (0.99) | −0.83 (1.18) | .817 |
| Weight‐for‐length z‐scorec (N = 11 missing) | Mean (SD) | −1.05 (1.26) | −0.90 (1.34) | −0.86 (1.28) | −1.03 (1.33) | .481 |
| Secondary outcomes | ||||||
| Birth visit | ||||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | Median (IQR) | 40.1 (39.2, 41.1) | 40.4 (39.5, 41.2) | 39.8 (39.1, 40.7) | 40.3 (39.4, 41.1) | .016 |
| Preterm (<37 weeks gestation) | N (%) | 4 (2.7) | 3 (1.8) | 2 (1.3) | 4 (2.5) | .819 |
| LBW (<2.5 kg) | N (%) | 18 (12.3) | 16 (9.8) | 13 (8.6) | 15 (9.4) | .736 |
| SGA (<10th percentileb) | N (%) | 52 (35.6) | 52 (31.7) | 55 (36.4) | 51 (32.1) | .751 |
| Maternal weight gain (kg/week) | ||||||
| Booking to the 20 week visit (N = 4 missing) | Mean (SD) | 0.34 (0.31) | 0.39 (0.33) | 0.41 (0.35) | 0.36 (0.40) | .289 |
| Booking to the 30 week visit (N = 3 missing) | Mean (SD) | 0.32 (0.16) | 0.33 (0.18) | 0.32 (0.17) | 0.32 (0.19) | .826 |
| 20 week visit to the 30 week visit (N = 6 missing) | Mean (SD) | 0.30 (0.19) | 0.30 (0.23) | 0.28 (0.19) | 0.31 (0.21) | .799 |
ANOVA = analysis of variance; BMI = body mass index; FeFol = iron and folic acid; IQR = inter‐quartile range; LNS = lipid‐based nutritional supplement; LBW = low birth weight; MMN = multiple‐micronutrient; PE = protein‐energy; SGA = small‐for‐gestational age; SD = standard deviation; WHO = World Health Organization.
a
Between‐arm differences were tested using ANOVA or Kruskal–Wallis for continuous variables and Chi‐squared tests for categorical variables.
b
z‐scores and percentiles according to the INTERGROWTH‐21st standards.
c
z‐scores according to the WHO growth standards.