Table 4.
Associations between environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) markers and child sociodemographic, morbidity and anthropometric characteristics in 18-month-old study participants1
| Characteristics by domain | n (%)/mean (SD) | L:M, β (SE) | PCA scores | PLS score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||
| Systemic inflammation, β (SE) | Gut inflammation, β (SE) | Gut permeability, β (SE) | β (SE) | |||
| Sociodemographic | ||||||
| Sex, female | 269 (49.9) | 0.16 (0.07)** | 0.03 (0.10) | 0.00 (0.10) | 0.11 (0.10) | 0.04 (0.10) |
| LSI, high | 300 (55.9) | −0.26 (0.08)*** | 0.13 (0.10) | −0.04 (0.10) | −0.22 (0.10)** | 0.08 (0.10) |
| Mother’s education | ||||||
| 1–9 years | 348 (64.8) | −0.10 (0.09) | −0.17 (0.12) | −0.20 (0.12) | −0.08 (0.12) | −0.11 (0.12) |
| SSC passed2 | 33 (6.1) | −0.32 (0.17)* | −0.31 (0.23) | −0.11 (0.23) | 0.36 (0.23) | −0.20 (0.23) |
| 11+ years | 40 (7.4) | −0.25 (0.17) | −0.17 (0.23) | 0.19 (0.23) | −0.10 (0.23) | −0.27 (0.23) |
| Morbidity history | ||||||
| Diarrhea3 | 20 (3.8) | 0.27 (0.19) | −0.06 (0.25) | 0.37 (0.25) | 0.42 (0.26) | −0.00 (0.25) |
| Fever3 | 47 (9.0) | −0.29 (0.14) | 0.67 (0.17)*** | 0.52 (0.18)*** | −0.21 (0.18) | 0.27 (0.18) |
| Cough3 | 194 (37.1) | 0.05 (0.08) | 0.31 (0.10)*** | 0.09 (0.10) | 0.19 (0.10) | 0.24 (0.10)** |
| Anthropometry | ||||||
| LAZ, 6 mo | −1.43 (1.05) | −0.00 (0.04) | −0.06 (0.05) | 0.05 (0.05) | −0.14 (0.05)*** | −0.09 (0.05) |
| WLZ, 6 mo | −0.26 (1.01) | −0.05 (0.05) | 0.01 (0.06) | −0.04 (0.06) | −0.08 (0.06) | 0.03 (0.06) |
| ΔLAZ, 6–18 mo | −0.25 (0.34) | −0.06 (0.13) | −0.07 (0.16) | −0.00 (0.16) | −0.04 (0.16) | −0.09 (0.16) |
| ΔWLZ, 6–18 mo | −0.40 (0.42) | −0.15 (0.12) | −0.17 (0.14) | −0.07 (0.15) | 0.01 (0.14) | −0.13 (0.14) |
Coefficients and p-values are from multivariable linear regression models with dependent variable log-transformed L:M or standardized EED score and child characteristics as independent variables in separate models for each domain (i.e., sociodemographic, morbidity, anthropometry).
0.05<p≤0.1
0.01<p≤0.5
p≤0.01
SSC is the secondary school completion exam, taken at the end of year 10 of schooling.
Dichotomous variable for whether symptoms of the listed morbidity were reported by the mother for the 7 days prior to the EED assessment.
Abbreviations: EED, environmental enteric dysfunction; LAZ, length-for-age z-score; L:M, lactulose:mannitol ratio; LSI, living standards index; PCA, principal component analysis; PLS, partial least squares regression; SSC, secondary school completion exam; WLZ, weight-for-length z-score.