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Comparison of Preventive and Therapeutic Zinc Supplementation in Young Children in Burkina Faso: A Cluster-Randomized, Community-Based Trial.
- Source :
-
The Journal of nutrition [J Nutr] 2016 Oct; Vol. 146 (10), pp. 2058-2066. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Aug 03. - Publication Year :
- 2016
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Abstract
- Background: The WHO and UNICEF recommend therapeutic zinc supplementation (TZS) for the treatment of diarrhea. In zinc-deficient populations, preventive zinc supplementation might provide greater benefits for reducing diarrhea and malaria incidence and increasing growth and plasma zinc (pZn) concentration. If effective, intermittent preventive zinc supplementation (IPZS) would cost less than daily preventive zinc supplementation (DPZS).<br />Objective: We assessed the effects of IPZS, DPZS, and TZS in children on the primary outcomes of diarrhea incidence, malaria incidence, growth, and pZn concentration compared with nonsupplemented control groups.<br />Methods: Rural Burkinabe children (n = 7641; 6-30 mo old) in 36 clusters were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups for 16, 32, or 48 wk: 1) IPZS (10 mg Zn/d for 10 d every 16 wk); 2) DPZS (7 mg Zn/d); 3) TZS (20 mg Zn/d for 10 d for diarrhea); 4) morbidity surveillance control (MSC); or 5) nonintervention control (NIC). Supplemented groups remained masked until completion of primary analyses with mixed models.<br />Results: At baseline, stunting (28.6%) and low pZn concentration (<65 μg/dL; 43.5%) were common. After 48 wk, mean ± SE pZn increased more (P = 0.008) in the DPZS group (3.9 ± 1.3 μg/dL) than in the TZS (-0.5 ± 1.2 μg/dL) and NIC (-1.2 ± 0.9 μg/dL) groups. All supplemented groups had a moderately lower incidence of reported diarrhea (0.48-0.49 compared with 0.57 episodes/100 d, P = 0.001) and reported fever (1.1-1.2 compared with 1.5 episodes/100d, P < 0.001) and gained slightly less length (3.15-3.20 compared with 3.36 cm/16 wk, P < 0.001) than the MSC group, but did not differ from each other. Prevalence of diarrhea and incidences of confirmed fever and malaria were not different across study groups.<br />Conclusions: The preventive and TZS groups had reduced diarrhea incidence, but it is uncertain whether this resulted from a functional response to zinc or reporting bias. The comparison should be re-examined in populations known to respond to zinc supplementation. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00944359.<br /> (© 2016 American Society for Nutrition.)
- Subjects :
- Burkina Faso epidemiology
Child, Preschool
Cluster Analysis
Diarrhea prevention & control
Dietary Supplements
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Fever epidemiology
Fever prevention & control
Follow-Up Studies
Growth Disorders drug therapy
Growth Disorders prevention & control
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Malaria prevention & control
Morbidity
Prevalence
Rural Population
Diarrhea epidemiology
Malaria epidemiology
Zinc administration & dosage
Zinc blood
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1541-6100
- Volume :
- 146
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of nutrition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27489011
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.116.230128