Impact of Life-size Growth Charts on Understanding of Stunting

NCT04579328 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00000386
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,019
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Randomized control trial testing whether exposure to a wall hanging (growth mat) enabling parents to physically compare their children's height against the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for height-for-age in combination with normal messaging on stunting increases parents' understanding and retention of those messages. Both intervention and control groups will receive messages about stunting over a 3-month period, but the intervention group will also be exposed to the growth mats during the 3-month intervention period. Parents in both groups will be tested post intervention on the messages about stunting and scores will be compared.

Conditions

Stunting

Keywords

stunting; height-for-age; behavior change; malnutrition

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Understanding of key messages on stunting

  there are multiple key points in the lessons on stunting accompanying the mats. Interviews will test the level of understanding for each key message, combining them into a composite score. Both individual and composite scores will be compared.

  after 3 months of exposure to the lessons

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Willingness to change behavior

  after 3 months of exposure to the lessons

Study Arms (2)

Lessons with Growth Mats

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants, clustered by neighbor groups, will be given lessons on stunting. During the lessons the trainers will use the growth mats to demonstrate their points. In these villages, village-wide events will expose the full community to the messages in combination to the mats.

Behavioral: Exposure to Growth Mats

Lessons without Mats

NO INTERVENTION

Participants, clustered by neighbor groups, will be given lessons on stunting without the aid of the growth mats. In these villages, village-wide events will expose the full community to the messages without the aid of the mats.

Interventions

Exposure to Growth Mats BEHAVIORAL

see arm/group descriptions for description of intervention

Lessons with Growth Mats

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• membership and regular participation in the selected neighbor groups

You may not qualify if:

• extended absence from the village during the intervention period

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tufts University: lead
• Catholic Relief Services: collaborator
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Tufts University

Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Growth Disorders; Malnutrition

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Study Officials

• Merry Fitzpatrick, PhD

  Tufts University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: enumerators interviewing/testing the participants on their understanding of the messages will not know whether or not the participants have been exposed to the growth mats (intervention).
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior Researcher

Model Details: Participants are assigned to intervention and control groups. At the end of a 3-month intervention, differences in comprehension of messages on stunting will be measured. Additionally, focus groups in the general community will collect information on perceptions of the messages and growth mats.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 1, 2020
• First Posted: October 8, 2020
• Study Start: October 15, 2020
• Primary Completion: March 10, 2021
• Study Completion: July 1, 2021
• Last Updated: May 6, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF
• Time Frame: after publication of results, estimated October-December 2021
• Access Criteria: Researchers seeking to use the data to inform other studies, students conducting class-based research, or practitioners seeking to inform behavior change programs to prevent stunting can receive the raw data and supporting information upon request.

Locations

US (1)