Table 1. Survey characteristics of the 20 countries included in the analysis.
| Country | MICS round | Year of investigation | Number of children aged 36–59 months (N) | Number of children aged 36–59 months without missing information (N)a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benin | MICS5 | 2014 | 4,880 | 4,709 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | MICS5 | 2016 | 3,730 | 3,598 |
| Cameroon | MICS5 | 2014 | 2,846 | 2,739 |
| Chad | MICS4 | 2010 | 7,139 | 6,375 |
| Congo | MICS5 | 2015 | 3,675 | 3,526 |
| DR Congo | MICS6 | 2018 | 8,704 | 8,453 |
| Eswatini | MICS5 | 2014 | 1,091 | 1,038 |
| Gambia | MICS6 | 2018 | 4,304 | 4,115 |
| Ghana | MICS6 | 2018 | 3,668 | 3,521 |
| Guinea | MICS5 | 2016 | 3,164 | 3,099 |
| Guinea-Bissau | MICS5 | 2014 | 2,970 | 2,849 |
| Lesotho | MICS6 | 2018 | 1,326 | 1,292 |
| Madagascar | MICS6 | 2018 | 5,142 | 5,004 |
| Malawi | MICS5 | 2014 | 7,839 | 7,536 |
| Mali | MICS5 | 2015 | 6,550 | 6,318 |
| Mauritania | MICS5 | 2015 | 4,446 | 4,005 |
| Nigeria | MICS5 | 2013 | 11,648 | 11,101 |
| Sierra Leone | MICS6 | 2014 | 4,810 | 4,568 |
| Togo | MICS6 | 2011 | 1,989 | 1,946 |
| Zimbabwe | MICS6 | 2019 | 2,512 | 2,479 |
| Total | - | - | 92,433 | 88,271 |
aNumber of children without missing information on ECDI, confounding variables, and exposures.
ECDI, Early Childhood Development Index; MICS, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.