Table III.
Group-wise comparison of baseline characteristics in children included in the analyses
| Characteristics | All (n = 2943) |
Preventive zinc (n = 738) |
Micronutrient powder (n = 701) |
Therapeutic zinc (n = 764) |
Control (n = 740) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child characteristics* | |||||
| Age, mo | 14.3 ± 5.0 | 14.1 ± 5.1 | 14.3 ± 5.0 | 14.5 ± 5.2 | 14.1 ± 5.1 |
| Male, n (%) | 1503 (51.1) | 370 (50.1) | 356 (50.8) | 392 (51.3) | 385 (52.0) |
| Length, cm | 72.5 ± 5.5 | 72.1 ± 5.5 | 72.5 ± 5.4 | 72.6 ± 5.7 | 72.5 ± 5.6 |
| Weight, kg | 8.3 ± 1.3 | 8.2 ± 1.3 | 8.3 ± 1.3 | 8.3 ± 1.3 | 8.2 ± 1.3 |
| MUAC, cm | 13.8 ± 1.0 | 13.7 ± 1.0 | 13.8 ± 1.0 | 13.8 ± 1.0 | 13.8 ± 1.0 |
| LAZ | −1.75 ± 1.08 | −1.78 ± 1.03 | −1.76 ± 1.07 | −1.78 ± 1.11 | −1.67 ± 1.09 |
| WAZ | −1.44 ± 1.01 | −1.48 ± 1.00 | −1.46 ± 1.02 | −1.43 ± 1.03 | −1.37 ± 1.00 |
| WLZ | −0.71 ± 0.96 | −0.74 ± 0.97 | −0.73 ± 0.96 | −0.69 ± 0.98 | −0.67 ± 0.94 |
| Stunting, n (%) | 1167 (39.7) | 303 (41.1) | 288 (41.1) | 300 (39.3) | 276 (37.3) |
| Underweight, n (%) | 808 (27.5) | 209 (28.3) | 212 (30.2) | 211 (27.6) | 176 (23.8) |
| Wasting, n (%) | 243 (8.3) | 72 (9.8) | 58 (8.3) | 58 (7.6) | 55 (7.4) |
| Hemoglobin, g/L | 107.0 ± 1.1 | 107.6 ± 1.1 | 107.5 ± 1.1 | 107.8 ± 1.1 | 108.0 ± 1.0 |
| Anemia, n (%) | 1614 (54.8) | 406 (55.0) | 396 (56.5) | 415 (54.3) | 397 (53.7) |
| Complementary feeding | |||||
| Breastfeeding, n (%) | 2107 (72.6) | 529 (73.9) | 551 (76.1) | 516 (70.4) | 511 (70.2) |
| Adequate dietary diversity, n (%) | 413 (14.2) | 107 (14.9) | 91 (12.5) | 108 (14.7) | 107 (14.7) |
| Iron-rich foods, n (%) | 1948 (67.0) | 478 (66.8) | 478 (65.8) | 484 (65.9) | 508 (69.6) |
| Household/maternal* | |||||
| District, n (%) | |||||
| Xebangfai | 740 (25.1) | 183 (24.8) | 184 (26.1) | 190 (24.9) | 184 (24.9) |
| Nongbok | 449 (15.3) | 112 (15.2) | 104 (14.8) | 119 (15.6) | 114 (15.4) |
| Mahaxay | 734 (25.0) | 181 (24.5) | 178 (25.4) | 188 (24.6) | 187 (25.3) |
| Xaibuathong | 585 (19.9) | 152 (20.6) | 132 (18.8) | 156 (20.5) | 145 (19.6) |
| Yommalat | 434 (14.7) | 110 (14.9) | 104 (14.8) | 110 (14.4) | 110 (14.9) |
| HFIAS | 3.2 ± 5.0 | 3.2 ± 5.0 | 3.2 ± 5.0 | 3.2 ± 5.0 | 3.1 ± 4.0 |
| Maternal age, y | 26.8 ± 5.9 | 26.5 ± 5.7 | 26.8 ± 5.9 | 26.7 ± 6.0 | 27.0 ± 6.0 |
| Maternal BMI, kg/m2 | 21.4 ± 2.9 | 21.4 ± 3.0 | 21.5 ± 2.7 | 21.4 ± 2.9 | 21.4 ± 3.0 |
| Micronutrients (n = 568)† | |||||
| Plasma zinc, µg/dL | 54.2 (14.2) | 52.2 (16.6) | 55.2 (13.8) | 54.4 (13.0) | 55.1 (13.5) |
| Zinc deficiency, n (%) | 432 (75.4) | 110 (74.3) | 101 (72.1) | 108 (74.5) | 113 (80.7) |
| Ferritin, µg/L | 31.0 (32.6) | 30.3 (32.7) | 27.7 (26.6) | 27.1 (21.6) | 27.2 (30.5) |
| Storage ID, n (%) | 150 (26.1) | 36 (24.3) | 39 (27.9) | 37 (25.3) | 38 (27.1) |
| sTfR, mg/L | 9.4 (7.2) | 9.1 (7.6) | 9.6 (6.0) | 9.3 (6.2) | 9.4 (7.6) |
| Functional ID, n (%) | 379 (66.0) | 91 (61.5) | 97 (69.3) | 99 (67.8) | 92 (65.7) |
| RBP, µmol/L | 1.3 (0.4) | 1.1 (0.4) | 1.1 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.3) | 1.2 (0.3) |
| VAD, n (%) | 9 (1.6) | 3 (2.0) | 4 (2.7) | 1 (0.7) | 1 (0.7) |
| Inflammation (n = 568)† | |||||
| AGP, g/L | 0.61 (0.42) | 0.64 (0.44) | 0.63 (0.47) | 0.60 (0.41) | 0.60 (0.41) |
| AGP>1 g/L, n (%) | 119 (20.7) | 34 (23.0) | 31 (22.1) | 26 (17.8) | 28 (20.0) |
| CRP, mg/L | 0.47 (1.60) | 0.57 (1.55) | 0.41 (1.19) | 0.43 (1.47) | 0.46 (2.31) |
| CRP >5 mg/L, n (%) | 67 (11.7) | 18 (12.2) | 13 (9.3) | 16 (11.0) | 20 (14.3) |
BMI, body mass index; HFIAS, Household Food Insecurity and Access Score.
Zinc deficiency defined as zinc <65 µg/dL, Storage ID as ferritin <12 µg/L, Functional ID as sTfR >8.3 mg/L, and vitamin A deficiency defined as RBP <0.81 µmol/L.
*
Values represent mean ± SD for continuous variable or n (%) for dichotomized variables.
†
Values represent median (IQR) for continuous variable or n (%) for dichotomized variables.