Trial reportBMJ open2018
Family networks and infant health promotion: a mixed-methods evaluation from a cluster randomised controlled trial in rural Malawi.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Relatively speaking? Partners' and family members' views and experiences of supporting breastfeeding: a systematic review of qualitative evidence.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Interventions for enhancing child survival practices among caregivers of under-five children in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Early life grandmother caregiving trajectories and child development: a longitudinal study.International journal of behavioral development · 2025Article
- Unmasking the complexities of healthcare access in low-resource settings: a health systems approach to obstetric and under-5 healthcare in rural settings of Eastern Uganda.Global health action · 2024Article
- Digital Health Technologies for Maternal and Child Health in Africa and Other Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Cross-disciplinary Scoping Review With Stakeholder Consultation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Article
- Piloting, testing and scaling parental training: a multi-partnership approach in Côte d'Ivoire.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Engaging family members in maternal, infant and young child nutrition activities in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic scoping review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Article
- Addressing anaemia in pregnancy in rural plains Nepal: A qualitative, formative study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Article
- The contribution of grandmother involvement to child growth and development: an observational study in rural Pakistan.BMJ global health · 2020Observational
- Mixed-Methods Systematic Review of Behavioral Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Increase Family Support for Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition during the First 1000 Days.Current developments in nutrition · 2020Review
- Grandmothers as Change Agents: Developing a Culturally Appropriate Program to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition in Sierra Leone.Current developments in nutrition · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveParents may rely on information provided by extended family members when making decisions concerning the health of their children. We evaluate whether extended family members affected the success of an information intervention promoting infant health.
methodsThis is a secondary, sequential mixed-methods study based on a cluster randomised controlled trial of a peer-led home-education intervention conducted in Mchinji District, Malawi. We used linear multivariate regression to test whether the intervention impact on child height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) was influenced by extended family members. 12 of 24 clusters were assigned to the intervention, in which all pregnant women and new mothers were eligible to receive 5 home visits from a trained peer counsellor to discuss infant care and nutrition. We conducted focus group discussions with mothers, grandmothers and peer counsellors, and key-informant interviews with husbands, chiefs and community health workers to better understand the roles of extended family members in infant feeding.
resultsExposure to the intervention increased child HAZ scores by 0.296 SD (95% CI 0.116 to 0.484). However, this effect is smaller in the presence of paternal grandmothers. Compared with an effect size of 0.441 to 0.467 SD (95% CI -0.344 to 1.050) if neither grandmother is alive, the effect size was 0.235 (95% CI -0.493 to 0.039) to 0.253 (95% CI -0.529 to 0.029) SD lower if the paternal grandmother was alive. There was no evidence of an effect of parents' siblings. Maternal grandmothers did not affect intervention impact, but were associated with a lower HAZ score in the control group. Qualitative analysis suggested that grandmothers, who act as secondary caregivers and provide resources for infants, were slower to dismiss traditionally held practices and adopt intervention messages.
conclusionThe results indicate that the intervention impacts are diminished by paternal grandmothers. Intervention success could be increased by integrating senior women.
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