Table 2.
Characteristics of children of the participants in a survey of access barriers to rural health facilities in Marsabit County, Kenya (n = 711)*
| Normal group (n = 327) | MAM group (n = 241) | SAM group (n = 143) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child age (months) | 25, 14–36 | 20, 12–29 | 15, 11–24 |
| Child MUAC (mm) | 135, 129–141 | 122, 120–124 | 113, 111–114 |
| Child sex (female) | 143 (45) | 103 (43) | 68 (49) |
| Primary reasons why child was brought to the health facility | |||
| Treatment for illness | 141 (43) | 54 (23) | 23 (16) |
| Supplementary feeding | 23 (7) | 95 (40) | 7 (5) |
| Therapeutic feeding | 2 (1) | 29 (12) | 73 (51) |
| Referral from health worker | 58 (18) | 25 (11) | 18 (13) |
| Growth monitoring | 61 (19) | 26 (11) | 13 (9) |
| Other | 40 (12) | 10 (4) | 9 (6) |
| Child seem unwell to mother? | 192 (59) | 121 (50) | 71 (50) |
| If child seemed unwell, symptoms observed by mother (multiple answers allowed) | |||
| Fever | 117 (61) | 82 (68) | 39 (55) |
| Acute respiratory illness | 116 (60) | 84 (70) | 31 (44) |
| Diarrhea or vomiting | 80 (42) | 62 (51) | 45 (63) |
| Lack of appetite | 54 (28) | 41 (34) | 29 (41) |
| Crying | 27 (14) | 29 (24) | 23 (32) |
| Injury | 22 (11) | 12 (10) | 1 (1) |
| Thin | 18 (9) | 25 (21) | 28 (39) |
MAM, moderate acute malnutrition; MUAC, mid‐upper arm circumference; SAM, severe acute malnutrition. *Values are n (%) or median, interquartile range as appropriate.