Effectiveness of zinc supplementation plus oral rehydration salts for diarrhoea in infants aged less than 6 months in Haryana state, India
Sarmila Mazumder, Sunita Taneja, Nita Bhandari, Brinda Dube, RC Agarwal, Dilip Mahalanabis, Olivier Fontaine & Robert E Black
Volume 88, Number 10, October 2010, 754-760
Table 1. Distribution of baseline characteristics in households in interventiona and controlb sites, Haryana state, India, 2005–2006
| Characteristic | Intervention (n = 414) | Control (n = 410) |
|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomic status | ||
| Household residents, median no. (IQR) | 6 (5–9) | 6 (5–9) |
| Household income per yr (in US$c), median (IQR) | 750 (500–1250) | 750 (500–1375) |
| Caregivers not working outside home, no. (%) | 403 (97.3) | 398 (97.1) |
| Mothers who never attended school, no. (%) | 203 (49.0) | 188 (45.8) |
| Mother’s years of schooling, mean (SD) | 4.1 (4.6) | 4.2 (4.5) |
| Morbidity (in children aged 1–5 months) | ||
| Diarrhoea in preceding 24 h,d no. (%) | 32 (7.7) | 40 (9.8) |
| ALRI in preceding 24 h,e no. (%) | 7 (1.7) | 6 (1.5) |
| Pasli chalna or pneumonia in preceding 24 h,f no. (%) | 1 (2.2) | 8 (1.9) |
| Hospitalization in preceding 3 mo, no. (%) | 21 (5.1) | 21 (5.1) |
ALRI, acute lower respiratory infection; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation; US$, United States dollars.
a Zinc supplementation plus oral rehydration salts.
b Oral rehydration salts only.
c At the time this study was conducted, 1 US$ was worth 48 Indian rupees.
d For infants aged < 2 months, caregiver’s report of recent change in consistency or frequency of stools or both; for older infants, caregiver’s report of ≥ 3 loose or watery stools in a 24-hour period.
e Presence of cough or difficult breathing along with fast breathing as reported by the caregiver.
f Based on caregiver’s use of the local terms pasli chalna or pneumonia.