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. 2018 Apr;2(4):255–268. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30031-2

Table 5.

Effect of the interventions on communication and executive functions after 2 years

N, mean (SD) Mean difference vs control group (95% CI) Mean difference vs combined water, sanitation, and handwashing group (95% CI) Mean difference vs nutrition group (95% CI)
MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories
Comprehension score
Control 1106, 0·00 (1·00) 0 (ref) ·· ··
Water 535, 0·18 (0·88) 0·20 (0·08 to 0·32) ·· ··
Sanitation 524, 0·16 (0·87) 0·18 (0·05 to 0·31) ·· ··
Handwashing 519, 0·21 (0·80) 0·22 (0·11 to 0·33) ·· ··
Water, sanitation, and handwashing 513, 0·18 (0·85) 0·18 (0·07 to 0·29) 0 (ref) ··
Nutrition 501, 0·19 (0·80) 0·19 (0·08 to 0·29) ·· 0 (ref)
Water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition 528, 0·25 (0·86) 0·26 (0·14 to 0·38) 0·07 (−0·05 to 0·19) 0·07 (−0·05 to 0·20)
Expressive language score
Control 1106, 0·00 (1·00) 0 (ref) ·· ··
Water 497, 0·18 (0·88) 0·18 (0·07 to 0·30) ·· ··
Sanitation 473, 0·17 (0·90) 0·17 (0·06 to 0·29) ·· ··
Handwashing 472, 0·19 (0·86) 0·19 (0·09 to 0·30) ·· ··
Water, sanitation, and handwashing 470, 0·13 (0·97) 0·11 (0·00 to 0·23) 0 (ref) ··
Nutrition 461, 0·19 (0·86) 0·18 (0·07 to 0·29) ·· 0 (ref)
Water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition 484, 0·19 (0·92) 0·20 (0·08 to 0·32) 0·07 (−0·07 to 0·22) 0·01 (−0·14 to 0·16)
Executive function
Tower test Z score
Control 1106, 0·00 (1·00) 0 (ref) ·· ··
Water 582, 0·09 (0·99) 0·09 (−0·01 to 0·20) ·· ··
Sanitation 564, 0·01 (1·00) 0·02 (−0·11 to 0·15) ·· ··
Handwashing 559, 0·12 (0·90) 0·13 (0·02 to 0·24) ·· ··
Water, sanitation, and handwashing 566, 0·06 (1·01) 0·06 (−0·05 to 0·18) 0 (ref) ··
Nutrition 550, 0·07 (0·94) 0·07 (−0·04 to 0·18) ·· 0 (ref)
Water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition 571, 0·11 (0·95) 0·10 (−0·01 to 0·22) 0·03 (−0·11 to 0·16) 0·02 (−0·12 to 0·15)
A-not-B test Z score
Control 1106, 0·00 (1·00) 0 (ref) ·· ··
Water 579, 0·17 (0·88) 0·17 (0·06 to 0·28) ·· ··
Sanitation 560, 0·10 (0·92) 0·10 (−0·01 to 0·20) ·· ··
Handwashing 555, 0·08 (0·94) 0·08 (−0·02 to 0·18) ·· ··
Water, sanitation, and handwashing 565, 0·05 (0·98) 0·05 (−0·05 to 0·16) 0 (ref) ··
Nutrition 545, 0·04 (0·95) 0·04 (−0·06 to 0·14) ·· 0 (ref)
Water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition 568, 0·08 (0·93) 0·07 (−0·01 to 0·16) 0·01 (−0·10 to 0·13) 0·03 (−0·07 to 0·14)