Table 4. Association between change in telomere length and growth.
| Exposure | Outcome | N | 10th percentile | 90th percentile | Outcome, 90th percentile vs. 10th percentile | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted* | ||||||||
| Predicted outcome at 10th percentile | Predicted outcome at 90th percentile | Coefficient (95% CI) | p-value | |||||
| Change in telomere length between Year 1 and Year 2 (T/S ratio) | LAZ Year 2 | 523 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −1.47 | −1.50 | −0.03 (−0.13, 0.07) | 0.62 |
| WAZ Year 2 | 541 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −1.72 | −1.76 | −0.03 (−0.13, 0.07) | 0.53 | |
| WLZ Year 2 | 545 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −0.98 | −1.05 | −0.07 (−0.18, 0.04) | 0.24 | |
| HCZ Year 2 | 543 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −1.83 | −1.90 | −0.08 (−0.24, 0.09) | 0.36 | |
| Change in LAZ between Year 1 and Year 2 | 545 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −0.23 | −0.23 | 0 (−0.09, 0.08) | 1 | |
| Change in WAZ between Year 1 and Year 2 | 547 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −0.36 | −0.40 | −0.04 (−0.13, 0.05) | 0.36 | |
| Change in WLZ between Year 1 and Year 2 | 543 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −0.23 | −0.27 | −0.04 (−0.16, 0.08) | 0.53 | |
| Change in HCZ between Year 1 and Year 2 | 525 | −0.43 | 0.44 | −0.14 | −0.19 | −0.05 (−0.15, 0.06) | 0.39 | |
| Length velocity between Year 1 and Year 2 | 522 | −0.43 | 0.44 | 0.84 | 0.82 | −0.01 (−0.03, 0.01) | 0.29 | |
| Weight velocity between Year 1 and Year 2 | 522 | −0.43 | 0.44 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0 (−0.01, 0.01) | 0.48 | |
| Head circumference velocity between Year 1 and Year 2 | 525 | −0.43 | 0.44 | 0.16 | 0.15 | −0.01 (−0.02, 0.01) | 0.35 | |
N, 10th percentile, and 90th percentile are from the adjusted analyses.
T/S ratio = unit for relative telomere length; LAZ = length-for-age Z score; WAZ = weight-for-age Z score; WLZ = weight-for-length Z score; HCZ = head circumference-for-age Z score.
Adjusted for pre-specified covariates: Child age, child sex, birth order, prior child length and weight measurements from Year 1 (included in Year 2 outcomes only), season of measurement, time between anthropometry measurements (included in growth velocity and change in growth measurements between Year 1 and Year 2 outcomes only), caregiver-reported diarrhoea, mother’s age, mother’s height, mother’s education level, mother’s Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) score, mother’s Perceived Stress Scale score, mother’s lifetime exposure to physical, sexual, and emotional intimate partner violence, household food insecurity, number of children <18 years in the household, number of individuals living in the compound, distance in minutes to the primary water source, household floor materials, household wall materials, household electricity, and household assets (wardrobe, table, chair, clock, khat, chouki, radio, television, refrigerator, bicycle, motorcycle, sewing machine, mobile phone, cattle, goats, and chickens), and treatment arm (control or N + WSH) (Supplementary file 1a).