Effects of Cash Transfers on Severe Acute Malnutrition

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Severe Malnutrition

Treatments: Other: Outpatient therapeutic program and counseling; Other: Outpatient therapeutic program, counseling and cash transfer

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02460848

ARCCII-Nutrition

Details and patient eligibility

About

Cash transfer, aims to strengthen food security for vulnerable households by giving families enough purchasing power to consume an adequate and balanced diet, maintain a good standard of hygiene, access health services, and invest in their own means of food production in addition to their children's growth and development.

While cash transfer to vulnerable households has shown a long-term positive impact on growth and on malnutrition-related mortality in children aged 0-5 years, there is little conclusive evidence their effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa that cash transfer has a direct effect on the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM). Here, the investigators will perform a cluster-randomized trial to investigate during 6 months the effects of unconditional cash transfers on the management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children from 6 to 59 months according to the national protocol in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Enrollment: 1,600 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 59 months old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Living in the catchment area of one of the 20 outpatient therapeutic program site participating in this cluster randomized trial;
• 6-59 months of age;
• Weight for Height Zscore <-3 SD (WHO Growth Standards 2006) and/or Mid-Upper Arm Circumference <115mm and/or with bilateral edema;
• No major clinical complications;
• Positive appetite test;
• Accept to participate at the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Not living in the catchment area of the outpatient therapeutic program site of the cluster randomized trial;
• Weight-for-Height Z-score ≥-3 (WHO Growth Standards 2006) and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference ≥115mm without bilateral edema;
• Major clinical complications;
• Failure to appetite test;
• Refuse to participate at the study.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,600 participants in 2 patient groups

Outpatient therapeutic program, counseling and cash transfer

Experimental group

Description:

Ten outpatient therapeutic program sites (OTP) will be randomly allocated to unconditional cash transfer for children admitted for treatment of SAM according to the integrated management of acute malnutrition national protocol which will be associated with counseling on infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

Treatment:

Other: Outpatient therapeutic program, counseling and cash transfer

Outpatient therapeutic program and counseling

Active Comparator group

Description:

Ten outpatient therapeutic program sites (OTP) will be randomly allocated for children admitted for treatment of SAM according to the integrated management of acute malnutrition national protocol which will be associated with counseling on infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

Treatment:

Other: Outpatient therapeutic program and counseling