ArticleNutrition journal2011
Diarrhea is a major killer of children with severe acute malnutrition admitted to inpatient set-up in Lusaka, Zambia.
Article in Nutrition journal, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 206 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Quantifying the increased risk of illness in malnourished children: a global meta-analysis and propensity score matching approach.Global health research and policy · 2024Pooled it
- Predictors of inpatient mortality among children hospitalized for severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of inpatient treatment outcomes of severe acute malnutrition and predictors of mortality among under-five children in Ethiopia.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- Oral rehydration for severe malnutrition in children with moderate and severe dehydration (GASTROSAM): a phase 2, open-label, superiority randomised controlled trial.The Lancet. Child & adolescent health · 2026Trial
- Intravenous Rehydration for Severe Acute Malnutrition with Gastroenteritis.The New England journal of medicine · 2025Trial
- Effects of probiotic and synbiotic supplementation on ponderal and linear growth in severely malnourished young infants in a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Predicting the risk of mortality during hospitalization in sick severely malnourished children using daily evaluation of key clinical warning signs.BMC medicine · 2021Trial
- Plasma proteomics reveals markers of metabolic stress in HIV infected children with severe acute malnutrition.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Hypoallergenic and anti-inflammatory feeds in children with complicated severe acute malnutrition: an open randomised controlled 3-arm intervention trial in Malawi.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- A reduced-carbohydrate and lactose-free formulation for stabilization among hospitalized children with severe acute malnutrition: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2019Trial
- Predictors of mortality among hospitalized children with severe acute malnutrition: a prospective study from Uganda.Pediatric research · 2018Trial
- Effectiveness of three commonly used transition phase diets in the inpatient management of children with severe acute malnutrition: a pilot randomized controlled trial in Malawi.BMC pediatrics · 2017Trial
- Article
- Serum electrolyte disturbances and treatment outcomes in hospitalized children with Severe Acute Malnutrition in Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Time to stabilization among under-five children with severe acute malnutrition in Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Diagnostic criteria for severe acute malnutrition and fatal outcomes in children aged 6-59 months, Nigeria.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2025Observational
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMortality of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in inpatient set-ups in sub-Saharan Africa still remains unacceptably high. We investigated the prevalence and effect of diarrhea and HIV infection on inpatient treatment outcome of children with complicated SAM receiving treatment in inpatient units.
methodA cohort of 430 children aged 6-59 months old with complicated SAM admitted to Zambia University Teaching Hospital's stabilization centre from August to December 2009 were followed. Data on nutritional status, socio-demographic factors, and admission medical conditions were collected up on enrollment. T-test and chi-square tests were used to compare difference in mean or percentage values. Logistic regression was used to assess risk of mortality by admission characteristics.
resultsMajority, 55.3% (238/430) were boys. The median age of the cohort was 17 months (inter-quartile range, IQR 12-22). Among the children, 68.9% (295/428) had edema at admission. The majority of the children, 67.3% (261/388), presented with diarrhea; 38.9% (162/420) tested HIV positive; and 40.5% (174/430) of the children died. The median Length of stay of the cohort was 9 days (IQR, 5-14 days); 30.6% (53/173) of the death occurred within 48 hours of admission. Children with diarrhea on admission had two and half times higher odds of mortality than those without diarrhea; Adjusted OR = 2.5 (95% CI 1.50-4.09, P < 0.001). The odds of mortality for children with HIV infection was higher than children without HIV infection; Adjusted OR = 1.6 (95% CI 0.99-2.48 P = 0.5).
conclusionDiarrhea is a major cause of complication in children with severe acute malnutrition. Under the current standard management approach, diarrhea in children with SAM was found to increase their odds of death substantially irrespective of other factors.
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