SynthesisJournal of global health2017
Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of global health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Postdischarge interventions for children hospitalized with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- The effect of psychosocial stimulation on the development, nutrition, and treatment outcomes of hospitalised children with severe acute malnutrition in Southern Ethiopia: a cluster randomised control trial: EPSoSAMC study.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Trial
- The lasting influence of parenting intervention on child behavior: findings from a randomized clinical trial using care for child development guidelines.BMC pediatrics · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Structured Play Integration into Nutritional Rehabilitation for Acute Malnutrition in Uganda: An Assessment from Ugandan Referral Hospitals.Pediatric health, medicine and therapeutics · 2026Article
- PS-SAM: A Mixed Methods Study to Understand Current Practice and the Facilitators and Barriers to the Utilisation of Psycho-Social Stimulation Interventions in Severe Acute Malnutrition.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Developmental and Nutritional Changes in Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition Provided withNutrients · 2024Article
- Factors Associated with Childhood Stunting in Four North African Countries: Evidence from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2014-2019.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Article
- Acceptability and feasibility of integrating psychosocial stimulation interventions in the inpatient care of children with severe acute malnutrition in resource-poor settings: a qualitative study.Journal of nutritional science · 2024Article
- A Mixed-Methods Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Hospital-Based Psychosocial Stimulation and Counseling Program for Caregivers and Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition.Current developments in nutrition · 2021Article
- Wasting and Associated Factors among Children under 5 Years in Five South Asian Countries (2014-2018): Analysis of Demographic Health Surveys.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Observational
- Article
- A quantitative cross-sectional survey of psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions at nutritional rehabilitation units in Southern Malawi.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2019Article
- A mixed methods feasibility study of the Kusamala Program at a nutritional rehabilitation unit in Malawi.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2018Article
- Developmental and behavioural problems in children with severe acute malnutrition in Malawi: A cross-sectional study.Journal of global health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe WHO
methodsA review protocol was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO 2016: CRD42016036403). MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched with terms related to SAM and psychosocial stimulation. Studies were selected if they applied a stimulation intervention in children with SAM and child developmental and nutritional outcomes were assessed. Findings were presented within a narrative synthesis and a summary of findings table. Quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.
findingsOnly two studies, both non-randomized controlled trials, met the selection criteria for this review. One was conducted in Jamaica (1975) with a follow-up period of 14 years; the other was done in Bangladesh (2002) with a six-month follow-up. At the individual study level, each of the included studies demonstrated significant differences in child development outcomes between intervention and control groups. Only the study conducted in Bangladesh demonstrated a clinically significant increase in weight-for-age z-scores in the intervention group compared to the control group.
conclusionsThe evidence supporting the recommendation of psychosocial stimulation for children with SAM is not only sparse, but also of very low quality across important outcomes. High-quality trials are needed to determine the effects of psychosocial stimulation interventions on outcomes in children with SAM.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.