Psychosocial Care and its Association with Severe Acute Malnutrition.

This cross-sectional study compared 120 children having severe acute malnutrition with 120 healthy children for exposure to 40 behaviors, by measuring psychosocial care based on Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory. The mean (SD) psychosocial care score of cases and controls significantly differed [18.2 (2.2) vs 23.5 (2.1); P<0.001]. A score of less than 14 was significantly associated with severe acute malnutrition (OR 23.2; 95% CI 8.2, 50).