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Table 1 Baseline characteristics (child, maternal and family characteristics) of SAM children by trial arm (N = 339), displayed as n (%) or mean [95% CI]

From: Effect of play-based family-centered psychomotor/psychosocial stimulation on the development of severely acutely malnourished children under six in a low-income setting: a randomized controlled trial

Child characteristics

N = 339

Intervention

Control

p-value

Female (n, %)

339

84 (49.7)

72 (42.4)

0.175

Birth order (born after second child) (n,%)

337

90 (53.3)

97 (57.7)

0.589

Age, months

339

27.5 [25.3, 29.7]

27.3 [24.9, 29.7]

0.908

HAZ baseline score

337

−3.7 [− 4.0, − 3.5]

−3.8 [−4.1, − 3.5]

0.558

MUACZ baseline score

332

−3.1 [− 3.3, − 2.9]

−3.5 [− 3.8, − 3.2]

0.014*

WAZ baseline score

338

− 3.6 [− 3.8, − 3.4]

−3.9 [− 4.1, − 3.6]

0.048*

WHZ or BAZ baseline score

337

−2.3 [− 2.5, − 2.0]

−2.6 [− 2.9, − 2.3]

0.128

Fine motor baseline score

338

15.6 [14.9, 16.3]

15.3 [14.5, 16.1]

0.580

Gross motor baseline score

339

16.2 [15.5, 17.0]

16.3 [15.4, 17.1]

0.998

Language baseline score

339

16.6 [15.7, 17.6]

17.1 [16.0, 18.2]

0.546

Personal social baseline score

339

14.2 [13.3, 15.0]

14.0 [13.0,15.0]

0.773

Social-emotional baseline score

336

67.3 [62.5, 72.0]

66.8 [62.2, 71.4]

0.888

Maternal characteristics

 Age (≤30 years) (n, %)

330

134 (81.2)

130 (78.8)

0.582

 Education (illiterate) (n,%)

338

135 (79.9)

135 (79.9)

0.100

 Occupation (housewife) (n, %)

331

129 (78.2)

150 (90.4)

0.002*

Family characteristics

 Family size (2–6 persons) (n, %)

339

121 (71.6)

121 (71.2)

0.932

 Socio-economic status (<  2.4 USD per day) (n, %)

338

167 (98.8)

166 (98.2)

0.652

 Address (rural or small village) (n, %)

339

117 (69.2)

143 (84.1)

0.001*

  1. T-test used for comparison on continuous score summarized by Mean (SD); Chi-square test for comparison of binary scores summarized by n (%); * p < 0.05