Emotional stimulation as a cost-effective addition to emergency food intervention for malnutrition in a low income country

Emotional stimulation as a cost-effective addition to emergency food intervention for malnutrition in a low income country: a randomised controlled trial

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN50930504

Enrollment

432

Registered

2015-04-17

Start date

2012-02-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Severe acute malnutrition Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine Malnutrition

Interventions

1. Emotional Stimulation (ES): a brief, structured, intense psychosocial bonding exercise taught to participating mothers 2. Nutritional Education (NE): participating mothers are given

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Age between 6 months and 5 years 2. Severe acute malnutrition defined as 3 SD below WHO published norms of height or forearm skin-fold thickness less than 110mm 3. Pass appetite test 4. Sufficient family involvement to ensure intervention

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Serious medical complications requiring referral for inpatient treatment 2. Clinically apparent congenital abnormality 3. Preterm birth ( 2SD below weight/gestation limit

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Body Mass Index (BMI) of infants measured by health extension workers who will record height and weight measurements at weekly intervals for 12 weeks	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Secondary measures will be collected by data collectors at baseline and at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks until discharge: 1. Ages and Stages Questionnaire 2. General Health Questionnaire 3. Pearlin and Schoolers’ seven-item scale 4. Global Rating Scale 5. Coding Interactive Behaviour Scale 6. Quality of interaction between parent and child (Ainsworth Sensitivity Coding Scale) 7. Parents’ perception of the child (qualitative interview) 8. The Bayley Scales will be administered to a sub-sample of randomly identified cases by a supervisor trained in the assessment of infants	—

Measure

Time frame

Secondary measures will be collected by data collectors at baseline and at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks until discharge: 1. Ages and Stages Questionnaire 2. General Health Questionnaire 3. Pearlin and Schoolers’ seven-item scale 4. Global Rating Scale 5. Coding Interactive Behaviour Scale 6. Quality of interaction between parent and child (Ainsworth Sensitivity Coding Scale) 7. Parents’ perception of the child (qualitative interview) 8. The Bayley Scales will be administered to a sub-sample of randomly identified cases by a supervisor trained in the assessment of infants

—

Countries

Ethiopia

Contacts

Public ContactPeter Fonagy

p.fonagy@ucl.ac.uk+44 (0) 20 7679 1943

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026