AzTrials
AzTrials

MalnutritionPhase 3NCT00420758

Effectiveness Trial on Alleviation of Infant Malnutrition With Fortified Spread or Maize-Soy Flour Food Supplements

A Phase 3 study testing Food supplement: fortified spread and Food supplement: maize-soy flour in people with Malnutrition, run by Tampere University at 1 site in Malawi.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

This study tests the hypothesis that moderately underweight but not severely wasted 6-17-month old infants receiving fortified spread or maize-spy flour as a food supplement for 12 weeks grow better during the supplementation than infants who do not get any food supplement. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 6 to 15 months
Conditions the study is for
Malnutrition
What is being tested?
Food supplement: fortified spread and Food supplement: maize-soy flour
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
299 participants
Where
1 siteMalawi
Study dates
Nov 2007to May 2008
Phase
Phase 3
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 6 to 15 months
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child

Who may be able to join

  • signed informed consent from at least one guardian
  • age 6.00 months to 14.99 months
  • weight-for-age <-2.0 Z scores
  • availability during the period of the study
  • permanent resident Lungwena Health Centre catchment area

Who cannot join

  • moderate or severe wasting (WHM<80% of the reference median)
  • history of peanut allergy
  • history of any serious allergic reaction to any substance, requiring emergency medical care
  • history of anaphylaxis
  • severe illness warranting hospital referral
  • concurrent participation in another clinical trial with intervention to the child

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Malawi1 site
  • College of Medicine, University of Malawi

    Mangochi, Mangochi District

Other trials in Malawi

About this study

Official title: LCNI-7. A Three-centre Intervention Trial in Rural Malawi, Testing the Effectiveness of Fortified Spread or Maize-Soy Flour Supplementation to Alleviate Moderate Malnutrition Among 6-18 Month Old Children

This study tests the hypothesis that moderately underweight but not severely wasted 6-17-month old infants receiving fortified spread or maize-spy flour as a food supplement for 12 weeks grow better during the supplementation than infants who do not get any food supplement.

Read the detailed description

Childhood undernutrition is very common in rural Malawi, like in many other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Usually, undernutrition develops between 6 and 24 months of age. By two years of age, 30-50% of all children in rural Malawi are undernourished, predisposing them to subsequent morbidity, developmental delay and mortality. Urgent interventions are needed but the magnitude of the problem precludes a hospital-based management strategy. Therefore, emphasis must be on prevention and early home-based rehabilitation of children with mild-to-moderate malnutrition. However, the options for community based approaches are not as developed as those for institutional management of undernutrition.

The present study tests a recently developed micronutrient fortified spread, FS, which offers a potential solution to home based nutrition rehabilitation. The concept has previously been shown to work not only in therapeutic feeding of undernourished children in nutrition rehabilitation units in Malawi but also home based supplementation of undernourished children aged 42 to 60 months in Mangochi District, southern Malawi. In the present study the investigators will test the efficacy in growth promotion of this product when provided as a supplementary food to moderately underweight, but not wasted, infants (defined as WAZ <-2, WHM=>80%) between 6 and 18 months of age.

The study will be conducted in Lungwena area, Mangochi District, rural Malawi. A total of 291 6-15 -month old infants will be enrolled and randomised to three groups receiving different daily food supplements for 12 weeks. Children in group one (control group) will not receive any supplementation, children in group two will receive 1200 g FS 4-weekly (43 g / day) and children in group 3 will received 2000 g of fortified maize/soy flour weekly (71 g / day). Participant´s guardians will collect the food supplements from a local health centre at 4-weekly intervals.

All children will undergo medical and anthropometric examinations at the beginning and end of the 12-week follow-up period. Dietary intake assessments will be conducted at 9 weeks after the onset of supplementation. A blood sample will be collected at the beginning and end of the study to measure blood haemoglobin concentration.

The impact of the dietary interventions will be primarily assessed by comparing weight gain in the three intervention groups. Secondary outcomes include length gain and changes in blood haemoglobin concentration. The study will also produce descriptive data on intake of foods during the intervention.

Conditions
Malnutrition
Being tested
Food supplement: fortified spread, Food supplement: maize-soy flour
Keywords
Infant, Malnutrition, Sub-Saharan Africa, Treatment, Growth, Haemoglobin, Fortified spread, Food supplement
Medical subject headings
Malnutrition

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Food supplement: fortified spreadDietary supplement

    Provision of fortified spread

  • Food supplement: maize-soy flourDietary supplement

    Provision of corn-soy blend (maize-soy flour)

Study groups in NCT00420758
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
ControlNo interventionNot described
LNSExperimentalLipid-based nutrient supplement
Receives: Dietary Supplement: Food supplement: fortified spread
CSBExperimentalCorn-soy blend supplement
Receives: Dietary Supplement: Food supplement: maize-soy flour

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Weight gain during the 12-week follow-up (in grams)

    Measured: 12 weeks

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Length gain during the 12-week follow-up (in centimetres

    Measured: 12 weeks

  2. Change in blood haemoglobin concentration during the study period (g/l)

    Measured: 12 weeks

  3. Change in anthropometric indices (WAZ, WHZ and HAZ)

    Measured: 12 weeks

  4. Proportion developing moderate or severe wasting during the intervention (WHM<80% of the reference mean)

    Measured: 12 weeks

  5. Change in mid-upper arm and head circumference

    Measured: 12 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Jan 2007 (estimated)
  2. Study startNov 2007
  3. Primary completionMay 2008
  4. Study completionMay 2008

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
299 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00420758
Sponsor's protocol ID
AF-109796-b
Status last verified
Dec 2015
First submitted
10 Jan 2007
Last updated
4 Dec 2015
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 3 study testing Food supplement: fortified spread and Food supplement: maize-soy flour in people with Malnutrition, run by Tampere University at 1 site in Malawi.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Dec 2015. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Malawi. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 3 studies compare the treatment with the current standard treatment or a placebo in a large group, to confirm how well it works and watch for side effects.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Weight gain during the 12-week follow-up (in grams) (time frame: 12 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Dec 2015.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in