21. Social support interventions – results of included prospective controlled studies.
| Study ID (risk of bias) | Study design (n) | Village savings/grants | No intervention | Effect measure (time point)a | Combined group effect | Effect direction | Meta‐analysis | ||||
|
Results at baseline |
Results at follow‐up |
n |
Results at baseline |
Results at follow‐up |
n | ||||||
| Primary outcomes | |||||||||||
| 6.3 Proportion of HH who were food secure | |||||||||||
| 6.3.1 Food security | |||||||||||
| 6.3.1.1 Outcome measure: self‐reported months of food sufficiency in previous year (mean, SD) | |||||||||||
| Brunie 2014 – VSL (‐) | Prospective controlled study (851 HHs) | 10.41 | 10.52 | — | 10.58 | 10.21 | — | DID estimate 0.47, 95% CI –0.04 to 0.98, P < 0.1 (3 years) | MD 1.25, 95% CI –0.28 to 2.79 | △ | N/A |
| Brunie 2014 – VSL+AM (‐) | 836 HHs | 9.27 | 11.18 | — | 10.47 | 10.35 | — | DID estimate 2.04, 95% CI 1.53 to 2.55, P < 0.1 (3 years) | ▲ | ||
| 6.3.2 Dietary diversity | |||||||||||
| 6.3.2.1 Outcome measure: HDDS (mean, SD) | |||||||||||
| Brunie 2014 – VSL (‐) | Prospective controlled study (802 HHs) | 4.06 | 5.44 | — | 3.73 | 4.84 | — | DID estimate 0.27, 95% CI –0.16 to 0.70, P > 0.1 (3 years) | MD –0.30, 95% CI –1.46 to 0.87 | △ | N/A |
| Brunie 2014 – VSL+AM (‐) | 813 HHs | 4.2 | 4.56 | — | 3.82 | 5.11 | — | DID estimate −0.92, 95% CI –1.567 to –0.273, P < 0.001 | ▽ | ||
| 6.3.2.2 Outcome measure: IDDS (mean, SD) | |||||||||||
| Brunie 2014 – VSL (‐) | Prospective controlled study (542 children) | 2.51 | 3.43 | — | 2.87 | 2.97 | — | DID estimate 0.81, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.26, P < 0.01 (3 years) | MD 0.52, 95% CI –0.18 to 1.23 | ▲ | N/A |
| Brunie 2014 – VSL+AM (‐) | (579 children) | 2.99 | 3.46 | — | 2.82 | 3.22 | — | DID estimate 0.07, 95% CI –0.7532 to 0.8932, P > 0.01 (3 years) | △ | ||
| Secondary outcomes | |||||||||||
| 6.5 Change in anthropometric indicators | |||||||||||
| 6.5.1 Outcome measure: weight‐for‐age z‐scores (WAZ) | |||||||||||
| Brunie 2014 – VSL (‐) | Prospective controlled study (503 children) | –1.21 | –0.91 | — | –1.25 | –0.83 | — | DID estimate –0.11, 95% CI –0.561 to 0.341, P > 0.1 (3 years) | MD 0.05, 95% CI –0.37 to 0.48 | ▽ | N/A |
| Brunie 2014 – VSL+AM (‐) | (550 children) | –0.96 | –0.93 | — | –1.15 | –0.78 | — | DID estimate 0.34, 95% CI –0.31 to 0.99, P > 0.01 | △ | ||
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.
AM: Ajuda Mútua; CI: confidence interval; DID: difference in differences; HDDS: Household Dietary Diversity Score; HH: household; IDDS: Individual Dietary Diversity Score; MD: mean difference; n: number; N/A: not applicable/available; SD: standard deviation; VSL: village savings and loan; WAZ: weight‐for‐age z‐score.