TIME TO RECOVERY FROM MODERATE ACUTE MALNUTRITION AND ITS PREDICTORS AMONG CHILDREN AGED 6- 59 MONTHS IN FEDIS WOREDA, EAST HARARGHE ZONE, EASTERN ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

Background: Acute malnutrition is a major global public health problem, particularly in low and middle-income countries. A targeted supplementary feeding program is an approach recommended to address moderate acute malnutrition in food insecure settings. Preventing and treating moderate acute malnutrition requires identifying factors shown to affect the treatment outcome and duration of stay on treatment. However, evidence is limited regarding the factors that affect the time to recovery of moderate acute malnutrition in Ethiopia, particularly in Fedis Woreda. Objective: To determine time to recovery from moderate acute malnutrition and its predictors among children age 6-59 months in Fedis Woreda East Hararghe Zone, Eastern Ethiopia, From January 01, 2022 – December 31, 2022. Data was extracted from February 20 – March 10, 2023. Methods: A facility based retrospective cohort study was conducted on 567 children with moderate acute malnutrition in randomly selected kebeles of Fedis Woreda East Hararghe Zone A multi stage sampling technique were used to select study participants. Pretested and structured checklist were used to extract/abstract the data by trained data collectors. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of study participants. Cox proportional hazard regression was fitted to identify the predictors of time-to-recovery from moderate acute malnutrition, thereby estimating the crude and adjusted hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05. Result: Both the overall mean timely recover was 16 weeks and median times to recovery were 16 weeks. The major predicting factors for time to recovery among children 6-59 months are: admission mid upper arm circumference of 12.1-12.5 centimeter (AHR=1.02, 95%CI: 1.01- 1.19), access to transportation (AHR=0.62, 95%CI: 0.36-0.81), specialized nutritious foods (AHR=1.96, 95%CI: 1.36-3.11) and diarrhea (AHR=0.4, 95%CI: 0.31-0.71). Conclusion: Though the median time to recovery of children admitted to targeted supplementary feeding was 16 weeks which is consistent with national standard acute malnutrition treatment guideline of Ethiopia health care providers need to give emphasis on early case identification of the case and timely management of comorbidities like diarrhea.