Table 1. Demographic, maternal, and child characteristics of the 114 studied children aged 12–48 months in Kahemba, Democratic Republic of Congo.
| Total | HH with konzo | HH without konzo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables (Units) | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) |
| Sociodemographic | ||||
| Child’s age (months) | 31.0 (4.2) | 31 (29–34) | 31.5 (4.5) | 30.4 (3.9) |
| Mother age at birth (years) | 29.7 (9.3) | 28 (22–37) | 30.8 (10.0) | 28.5 (8.3) |
| Father age at birth (years) | 38.5 (13.6) | 37.5 (26.5–48.5) | 38.1 (14.5) | 39.1 (12.7) |
| Household size (n) | 7.7 (2.8) | 7 (6–9) | 7.7 (2.9) | 7.6 (2.7) |
| Children ≤ 17years old in the house (n) | 4.6 (2.1) | 4 (3–6) | 4.5 (1.9) | 4.8 (2.4) |
| Number of adults > 18 years old in the house | 3.0 (1.6) | 2 (2–4) | 3.2 (1.9) | 2.7 (1.3) |
| Number of sibling (n) | 4.1 (2.5) | 4 (2–6) | 4.3 (2.7) | 3.9 (2.2) |
| Rank of the child (n) | 3.9 (2.5) | 3 (2–6) | 4.1 (2.7) | 3.7 (2.2) |
| Monthly income (Congo Francs) | 88336.6 (32.8) | 50 (30–50) | 84721 (45219) | 92508 (50600) |
| Wealth index (scores) | 2.5 (2.5) | 2 (0–3) | 1.74 (1.5) | 3.31 (3.0) ** |
| Maternal | ||||
| Hopkins Symptoms Check List (scores) | 7.98 (6.38) | 7 (2–13) | 9.8 (6.8) | 5.9 (5.2) ** |
| Goldberg Depression Anxiety Scale (scores) | 7.4 (5.6) | 7 (1–13) | 8.5 (5.7) | 6.0 (5.2)* |
| Mother weight (kg) | 48.2 (8.0) | 47 (43–53) | 46.7 (8.2) | 49.9 (7.4)* |
| Mother height (cm) | 154.5 (6.3) | 154 (150–159) | 153.9 (6.6) | 155.7 (5.8) |
| Child | ||||
| Birthweight (gram) | 3409.3 (655.9) | 3500 (3000–3800) | 3362 (649) | 3462 (665) |
| Child’s weaning age (months) | 5.5 (3.0) | 5 (3–7) | 5.00 (3.2) | 6.13 (2.6)* |
| Ten questions (scores) | 0.5 (1.0) | 0 (0–1) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.6 (1.1) |
| Child weight (kg) | 10.9 (2.2) | 11 (9–12) | 10.9 (1.9) | 10.8 (2.6) |
| Height (cm) | 84.8 (5.6) | 85 (81–88) | 85.5 (5.3) | 84.0 (5.9) |
| Mid upper arm circumference (cm) | 14.7 (1.3) | 15 (14–15) | 14.7 (1.1) | 14.8 (1.4) |
| Weight for age z-score | -1.7 (1.6) | -1.71 (-(2.64 to -0.7) | -1.7 (1.3) | -1.8 (1.8) |
| Height for age z-score | -2.1 (1.4) | -1.98 (- 2.99 to -1.04) | -1.9 (1.4) | -2.2 (1.5) |
| Head circumference (cm) | 48.3 (1.8) | 48 (47–49) | 48.4 (1.7) | 48.1 (1.8) |
| Number of meals the previous day (n) | 1.98 (0.6) | 2 (2–2) | 2.0 (0.6) | 1.9(0.6) |
*T-test p-value < 0.05
** T-test p-value < 0.01
HH: households. Konzo: irreversible upper-motor disease linked to cyanide neurotoxicity from poorly processed cassava