TABLE 2.
Characteristics of studies evaluating RUTF containing low or no dairy for children with SAM included in the systematic review1
| Baseline sample size, n | Age range, mo | RUTF <50%2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study (reference) | Country setting | Study design | SAM types | Description | Protein quality | ||
| Oakley 2010 (34) | Malawi (low-income) | RCT | Intervention: 929Comparison: 945 | Severe wasting and edematous malnutrition | 6–59 | Soya RUTF containing 10% skim-milk powder | PDCAAS: 87DIAAS: 54 |
| Irena 2015 (33) | Zambia (low-income) | Cluster-RCT (clustering at the level of the health center, 24 health centers) | Intervention: 824 (effective sample size 376)Comparison: 1103 (effective sample size 504) | Severe wasting and edematous malnutrition | 6–59 | Soya, maize, and sorghum RUTF without milk/dairy powder | PDCAAS: 84DIAAS: 81 |
| Bahwere 2016 (31) | Democratic Republic of the Congo (low-income) | RCT | Intervention: 439Comparison: 436 | Severe wasting and edematous malnutrition | 6–59 | Soya, maize, and sorghum RUTF without milk/dairy powder | PDCAAS: 91DIAAS: 79 |
| Bahwere 2017 (30)/Sato 2018 (29)/Akomo 2019 (28) | Malawi (low-income) | RCT | Intervention 1: 433Intervention 2: 420Comparison: 446 | Severe wasting and edematous malnutrition | 6–59 | Intervention 1: soya, maize, and sorghum RUTF enriched with crystalline amino acids without milk/dairy powder (FSMS)Intervention 2: soya, maize, and sorghum RUTF enriched with crystalline amino acids containing 9% skim-milk powder (MSMS) | Intervention 1: PDCAAS: 112Intervention 1 DIAAS: 88Intervention 2: PDCAAS: 112Intervention 2 DIAAS: 95 |
| Sigh 2018 (35) | Cambodia (middle-income) | RCT | Intervention: 60Comparison: 61 | Severe wasting and edematous malnutrition | 6–59 | Fish-based wafer RUTF without milk/dairy powder | PDCAAS: 943DIAAS: 853 |
| Hossain 2019 (32) | Bangladesh (middle-income) | RCT | Intervention: 130Comparison: 130 | Severe wasting only | 6–59 | Soya RUTF without milk/dairy powder | Missing information |
1
DIAAS, digestible indispensable amino acid score; PDCAAS, protein digestibility–corrected amino acid score; RCT, randomized controlled trial; RUTF, ready-to-use therapeutic food; SAM, severe acute malnutrition.
2
RUTF <50% represents RUTF with <50% of protein coming from dairy products.
3
Animal protein digestibility was used as the best estimate of protein quality for the local fish ingredient.