Vitamin A supplementation and childhood morbidity from diarrhea, fever, respiratory problems and anemia in sub-Saharan Africa

Figures & data

Table 1 List of 28 surveys included in the analysis, SSA, 2010–2014

Country	Year of data collection	Sample size
Benin	2011/2012	10,567
Burkina Faso	2010	6,047
Burundi	2010	3,236
Cameroon	2011	3,560
Comoros	2012	2,428
Republic of Congo	2011–2012	4,077
Democratic Republic of Congo	2013–2014	7,427
Côte d’Ivoire	2011–2012	3,007
Ethiopia	2011	9,166
Gabon	2012	3,045
The Gambia	2013	3,136
Ghana	2014	2,435
Guinea	2012	2,832
Liberia	2013	2,958
Malawi	2010	4,648
Mali	2012–2013	4,312
Mozambique	2011	8,729
Namibia	2013	1,633
Niger	2012	4,817
Nigeria	2013	24,332
Rwanda	2010	3,761
Senegal	2014	5,559
Sierra Leone	2013	4,313
Tanzania	2010	6,331
Togo	2013–2014	2,965
Uganda	2011	1,930
Zambia	2013–2014	11,051
Zimbabwe	2010–2014	4,104

Abbreviation: SSA, sub-Saharan Africa.

Table 2 Characteristics of the study children, 28 SSA countries, 2010–2014

Variables	Percentage
Sex (n= 152,406)
Male	50.4
Female	49.6
Age in months (n=152,406)
6–11	12.6
12–23	23.0
24–35	21.5
35–47	22.1
48–59	20.7
Place of residence (n= 152,406)
Urban	27.9
Rural	72.1
Educational status of the respondents (n=152,387)
No formal education	46.3
Primary education	32.1
Secondary education	18.7
Tertiary education	2.9
Type of drinking water source (n=150,269)
Improved	59.4
Non-improved	40.6
Type of household sanitation facility (n= 150,315)
Improved	62.4
Non-improved	37.6
Stunting status (n= 138,757)
Stunted	36.0
Not stunted	64.0
Underweight status (n=138,757)
Underweight	30.3
Not underweight	69.7
Wasting status (n= 140,255)
Wasted	10.4
Not wasted	89.6

Abbreviation: SSA, sub-Saharan Africa.

Figure 1 Coverage of VAS in 28 African countries, 2010–2014.

Abbreviations: VAS, vitamin A supplementation; CI, confidence interval.

Table 3 Factors associated with utilization of VAS in children aged 6–59 months, 28 SSA countries, 2010–2014

Variable	Coverage of VAS	AOR (95% CI)
Child’s age, months
6–11	48.6	0.66 (0.64–0.68)
12–59	57.9	1^Table Footnoter
Place of residence
Urban	63.9	1^Table Footnoter
Rural	53.9	0.83 (0.81–0.86)
Household wealth index
Lowest	45.5	0.42 (0.40–0.44)
Second	51.4	0.50 (0.48–0.52)
Middle	57.0	0.60 (0.57–0.62)
Fourth	64.0	0.77 (0.75–0.80)
Highest	70.8	1^Table Footnoter
Maternal education
No formal education	46.7	0.45 (0.42–0.48)
Primary education	63.5	0.81 (0.76–0.87)
Secondary education	66.9	0.82 (0.77–0.88)
Tertiary education	74.9	1^Table Footnoter

Note:

r reference group.

Abbreviations: VAS, vitamin A supplementation; SSA, sub-Saharan Africa; AOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 4 Association between coverage of VAS and diarrhea, fever and ARI symptoms in 28 African countries, 2010–2014

VAS	Prevalence of morbidity (%)	COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	Effect size (d; 95% CI)
Fever
Yes	20.4	1.09 (1.06–1.12)	1.12 (1.09–1.15)
No	17.0	1^Table Footnoter	1^Table Footnoter	0.06 (0.05–0.08)
Diarrhea
Yes	14.9	1.03 (1.00–1.07)	1.09 (1.05–1.13)
No	13.6	1^Table Footnoter	1^Table Footnoter	0.05 (0.03–0.07)
ARI symptoms
Yes	5.5	1.13 (1.07–1.19)	1.18 (1.16–1.24)
No	4.5	1^Table Footnoter	1^Table Footnoter	0.09 (0.06–0.12)
Anemia
Yes	56.9	0.83 (0.81–0.86)	0.90 (0.87–0.93)
No	60.5	1^Table Footnoter	1^Table Footnoter	0.06 (0.04–0.08)

Note:

r reference group.

Abbreviations: VAS, vitamin A supplementation; ARI, acute respiratory infection; COR, crude odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.