The WASH Benefits and SHINE trials: interpretation of WASH intervention effects on linear growth and diarrhoea

作者：Amy J. Pickering, Clair Null, Peter John WINCH, Goldberg Mangwadu, Benjamin F. Arnold, Andrew J. Prendergast, Sammy M. Njenga, Mahbubur M. Rahman, Robert Ntozini, Jade Benjamin‐Chung, Christine P. Stewart, Tarique Md. Nurul Huda, Lawrence H. Moulton, John M. Colford, Stephen P. Luby, Jean H. Humphrey · 发表于：The Lancet Global Health · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1016/s2214-109x(19)30268-2 · 被引用次数：424 · 研究领域：Child Nutrition and Water Access、Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare、Global Maternal and Child Health

Child stunting is a global problem and is only modestly responsive to dietary interventions. Numerous observational studies have shown that water quality, sanitation, and handwashing (WASH) in a household are strongly associated with linear growth of children living in the same household. We have completed three randomised efficacy trials testing improved household-level WASH with and without improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and diarrhoea in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. In all trials, improved IYCF had a statistically significant benefit, but WASH had no effect on linear growth. In observational analyses of data from the control groups of the three trials, baseline sanitation was a strong risk factor for stunting in the study populations, suggesting this frequently reported association might be confounded by unmeasured factors of household wellbeing. WASH interventions reduced diarrhoea in Bangladesh, but not in Kenya or Zimbabwe. Intervention promoters visited participants six times per month in Bangladesh compared with monthly in Kenya and Zimbabwe; a review of the literature shows that virtually all published studies that have reported an effect on diarrhoea through home-based water treatment and handwashing promotion achieved high adherence by visiting participants at daily to fortnightly intervals. Despite achieving substantial behavioural change and significant reduction in infection prevalence for some enteric pathogens, detection of enter...