Trial reportBMC medicine2017
Effects of unconditional cash transfers on the outcome of treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM): a cluster-randomised trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02460848 (Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers on the Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition), which is not on this map. Cited by 37 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers on the Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a Cluster Randomized Trial
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Community-Based Interventions for Childhood Undernutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- The role of nutrition-sensitive interventions in improving nutritional outcomes: findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Evidence on Strategies for Integrating Nutrition Interventions with Health and Immunization Systems in Conflict-affected Areas of Low- and Lower-middle-income Settings-A Systematic Review.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Analysis of Postdischarge Interventions for Children Treated for Moderate or Severe Wasting, Growth Faltering or Failure, or Edema: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Unconditional cash transfers for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Postdischarge interventions for children hospitalized with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Community-level interventions for improving access to food in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Community-level interventions for improving access to food in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Relapse after severe acute malnutrition: A systematic literature review and secondary data analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Unconditional cash transfers for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Trial
- Levels and determinants of child wasting relapse: a prospective cohort study from Somalia.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Reducing relapse in children after recovery from severe acute malnutrition in Mali: participatory development of a theory of change for post-treatment monitoring including SQ-LNS supplementation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Relapse Burden of Severe Acute Malnutrition Post-Recovery Using SPHERE Performance Indicators: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Health science reports · 2025Review
- Weight gain among children under five with severe malnutrition in therapeutic feeding programmes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Facilitators and barriers to implementing complex community-based interventions for addressing acute malnutrition in low- and lower-middle income countries: A scoping review.Nutrition and health · 2024Article
- Financing for equity for women's, children's and adolescents' health in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Relapse of severe acute malnutrition among children discharged from outpatient therapeutic program in western Ethiopia.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Cash transfers and human capital outcomes of children in LMICs: A systematic review using PRISMA.Heliyon · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCash transfer programs (CTPs) aim to strengthen financial security for vulnerable households. This potentially enables improvements in diet, hygiene, health service access and investment in food production or income generation. The effect of CTPs on the outcome of children already severely malnourished is not well delineated. The objective of this study was to test whether CTPs will improve the outcome of children treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over 6 months.
methodsWe conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial in children with uncomplicated SAM who received treatment according to the national protocol and counselling with or without a cash supplement of US$40 monthly for 6 months. Analyses were by intention to treat.
resultsThe hazard ratio of reaching full recovery from SAM was 35% higher in the intervention group than the control group (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10 to 1.69, P = 0.007). The adjusted hazard ratios in the intervention group for relapse to moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and SAM were 0.21 (95% CI = 0.11 to 0.41, P = 0.001) and 0.30 (95% CI = 0.16 to 0.58, P = 0.001) respectively. Non-response and defaulting were lower when the households received cash. All the nutritional outcomes in the intervention group were significantly better than those in the control group. After 6 months, 80% of cash-intervened children had re-gained their mid-upper arm circumference measurements and weight-for-height/length Z-scores and showed evidence of catch-up. Less than 40% of the control group had a fully successful outcome, with many deteriorating after discharge. There was a significant increase in diet diversity and food consumption scores for both groups from baseline; the increase was significantly greater in the intervention group than the control group.
conclusionsCTPs can increase recovery from SAM and decrease default, non-response and relapse rates during and following treatment. Household developmental support is critical in food insecure areas to maximise the efficiency of SAM treatment programs.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02460848 . Registered on 27 May 2015.
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