13. Conditional cash transfers – results of included prospective controlled studies.
| Study ID (risk of bias) | Study design (n) | Conditional cash transfers | No intervention | Effect measure (time point) | Effect directiona | Meta‐analysis (yes/no) | ||||
| Results at baseline | Results at follow‐up | n | Results at baseline | Results at follow‐up | n | |||||
| Primary outcomes | ||||||||||
| 2.2 Proportion of HH expenditure on food | ||||||||||
| 2.2.1 Outcome measure: proportion of HH expenditure on food (weekly/monthly) | ||||||||||
| Ferre 2014 (‐) | PCS (n NR) | 3168/5548 = 0.57 | — | — | 3153/5780 = 0.55 | — | — | Proportion after study period is 337.0/378.8 = 0.89 (not impact) (13 months) | — | N/A |
| 2.3: Proportion of HHs who were food secure | ||||||||||
| 2.3.2 Dietary diversity | ||||||||||
| 2.3.2.1 Proportion with MDD | ||||||||||
| Ferre 2014 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 1318 children) | 12.1 | — | — | 12.5 | — | — | MD 0.031, SE 0.05, 95% CI –0.067 to 0.129 (13 months) | △ | |
| Secondary outcomes | ||||||||||
| 2.5Change in anthropometric indicators | ||||||||||
| 2.5.1 Stunting (chronic undernutrition) | ||||||||||
| 2.5.1.1 Outcome measure: proportion stunted (HAZ < –2SD) | ||||||||||
| Ferre 2014 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (1580 children) | 47.2 | — | — | 43.3 | — | — | MD 0.034, SE 0.05, 95% CI –0.064 to 0.132 (13 months) | ▽ | Yes. Subset. (except Lopez‐Arana as OR could not be converted to SMD due to missing group sizes) |
| Andersen 2015 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 188 children) | 91 (48.4%) | 72 (38.3%) | — | 80 (42.6%) | 76 (40.4%) | — | Treatment effect: –7.98, 95% CI –22.3 to 6.34, P = 0.27 (< 2 years) | △ | |
| Prospective controlled study (n = 169 children) | 101 (59.8%) | 67 (39.6%) | — | 84 (49.7%) | 81 (47.9%) | — | Treatment effect –18.3, 95% CI –38.3 to 1.59, P = 0.07 (≥ 2 years) | △ | ||
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | 391 (30.3%) | — | — | 442 (27.9%) | — | — | OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.05, P > 0.05 (4 years) | △ | |
| 2.5.1.2 Outcome measure: height‐for‐age z‐score (HAZ) (mean, SD) | ||||||||||
| Leroy 2008 (PROGRESA) (‐) | Prospective controlled study (432 children) | –1.29 (1.36) | — | — | –1.4 (1.16) | — | — | MD 0.1, 95% CI –0.086 to 0.306, P = 0.13 (2 years) | △ | Yes |
| Andersen 2015 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 188 children) | –1.97 (1.1) | –1.76 (0.864) | — | –1.80 (1.02) | –1.71 (0.757) | — | MD 0.12, 95% CI –0.10 to 0.33, P = 0.28 (< 2 years) | △ | |
| Prospective controlled study (n = 169 children) | –2.11 (1.24) | –1.85 (0.829) | — | –2.08 (1.12) | –1.95 (0.813) | — | MD 0.14, 95% CI –0.20 to 0.49, P = 0.41 (≥ 2 years) | △ | ||
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | –1.47 (1.21) | — | — | –1.42 (1.13) | — | — | MD 0.00, 95% CI –0.10 to 0.11, P > 0.05 (4 years) | — | |
| 2.5.2:Wasting (acute undernutrition) | ||||||||||
| 2.5.2.1 Outcome measure: proportion wasted (WHZ < –2SD) | ||||||||||
| Ferre 2014 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2244 children) | 27.8 | — | — | 22.9 | — | — | MD/DID –0.036, SE 0.04, 95% CI –0.1144 to 0.0424 (ages 22–46 months when enrolled) MD –0.125, SE 0.07, 95% CI –0.2622 to 0.0122 (aged 10–22 months when enrolled) pp –12.5 (13 months) |
△ | No. Lopez‐Arana/Ferre 2014 could not be converted to SMD due to missing group sizes. |
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | 25 (1.9%) | — | — | 14 (0.9%) | — | — | OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.74, P < 0.05 (4 years) | ▲ | |
| 2.5.2.2 Outcome measure: WHZ (mean, SD) | ||||||||||
| Leroy 2008 (PROGRESA) (‐) | Prospective controlled study (432 children) | 0.30 (1.07) | — | — | 0.33 (1.00) | — | — | MD 0.085, 95% CI –0.113 to 0.283, P = 0.2 (2 years) | △ | |
| 2.5.3 Underweight | ||||||||||
| 2.5.3.1 Outcome measure: proportion underweight (WAZ < –2SD) | ||||||||||
| Ferre 2014 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (1638 children) | 47.1 | — | — | 42.9 | — | — | MD/DID 0.046, SE 0.05, 95% CI –0.052 to 0.144 pp 4.6 (13 months) |
▽ | N/A |
| 2.5.3.2 Outcome measure: BMIZ (mean, SD) | ||||||||||
| Andersen 2015 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 188 children) | 0.527 (1.15) | 0.145 (0.833) | — | 0.790 (0.986) | 0.436 (0.739) | — | MD –0.028, 95% CI –0.31 to 0.25, P = 0.84 (< 2 years) | ▽ | Yes |
| Prospective controlled study (n = 169 children) | 0.613 (1.23) | 0.248 (0.788) | — | 0.622 (1.3) | 0.622 (0.773) | — | MD –0.36, 95% CI –0.79 to 0.06, P = 0.09 (≥ 2 years) | ▽ | ||
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | — | — | — | — | — | — | MD 0.14, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.27, P < 0.05 (4 years) | △ | |
| 2.7 Cognitive function and development | ||||||||||
| 2.7.1 Outcome measure: language score (TVIP) (mean, SD) | ||||||||||
| Andersen 2015 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 243 children) | –0.538 (0.782) | –0.718 (0.959) | — | –0.531 (0.761) | –0.552 (1.03) | — | Coefficient –0.15, 95% CI –0.37 to 0.066, P = 0.17 (≥ 2 years) | ▽ | N/A |
| 2.10: Adverse outcomes: overweight/obesity | ||||||||||
| 2.10.1 Outcome measure: overweight (BMI z‐score > –2SD) | ||||||||||
| Andersen 2015 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (n = 188 children) | n = 65, 34.6% | n = 24, 12.8% | — | n = 81, 43.1% | n = 34, 18.1% | — | pp 3.19, 95% CI –9.93 to 16.3, P = 0.63 (< 2 years) | ▽ | Yes |
| Prospective controlled study (n = 169 children) | n = 65, 37.9% | n = 28, 16.6% | — | n = 64, 37.9% | n = 42, 24.9% | — | pp –8.89, 95% CI –24.7 to 7.0, P = 0.27 (≥ 2 years); log OR –0.2784 | △ | ||
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | — | — | — | — | — | — | OR 1.30, 95% CI 0.83 to 2.03, P > 0.05 (4 years) | ▽ | |
| 2.10.2 Obesity | ||||||||||
| Lopez Arana 2016 (‐) | Prospective controlled study (2874 children) | 41 (3.2%) | — | — | 37 (2.3%) | — | — | OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.53, P > 0.05 | △ | |
aEach triangle represents one study.
▲ = Favours the intervention, 95% CI excludes 0; △ = Unclear effect potentially favouring the intervention, 95% CI includes zero; ▼ = Favours the control, 95% CI excludes 0; ▽ = Unclear effect potentially favouring the control, 95% CI includes 0. (+): low overall risk of bias; (?): unclear overall risk of bias; (‐): high overall risk of bias.
BMIZ: body mass index‐for‐age z‐score; CI: confidence interval; DID: difference in differences; HAZ: height‐for‐age z‐score; HH: household; MD: mean difference; n: number; N/A: not applicable/available; NR: not reported; OR: odds ratio; PCS: prospective controlled study; SD: standard deviation; SE: standard error; TVIP: Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody; WAZ: weight‐for‐age z‐score; WHZ: weight‐for‐height z‐score.