Geostatistical modelling of the association between malaria and child growth in Africa.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Undernutrition among children under 5 years of age continues to be a public health challenge in many low- and middle-income countries and can lead to growth stunting. Infectious diseases may also affect child growth, however their actual impact on the latter can be difficult to quantify. In this paper, we analyse data from 20 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 13 African countries to investigate the relationship between malaria and stunting. Our objective is to make inference on the association between malaria incidence during the first year of life and height-for-age Z-scores (HAZs). METHODS:We develop a geostatistical model for HAZs as a function of both measured and unmeasured child-specific and spatial risk factors. We visualize stunting risk in each of the 20

SUBMITTER: Amoah B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5828493 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature