Developmental Assessments during Injury Research: Is Enrollment of Very Young Children in Crèches Associated with Better Scores?

The Developmental Study is part of a larger intervention on "saving of lives from drowning (SoLiD)" where children were enrolled either into crèches (daycare centers) or playpens to prevent drowning in rural Bangladesh. Sampling ~1000 children between the ages of 9-17 months, we compared problem-solving, communication, motor and personal-social outcomes assessed by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in the two interventions. After controlling for variables such as home stimulation in multivariate regressions, children in crèches performed about a quarter of a standard deviation better in total scores (p < 0.10) and 0.45 standard deviations higher in fine motor skills (p < 0.05). Moreover, once the sample was stratified by length of exposure to the intervention, then children in crèches performed significantly better in a number of domains: those enrolled the longest (about 5 months) have higher fine motor (1.47, p < 0.01), gross motor (0.40, p < 0.05) and personal-social skills (0.95, p < 0.01) than children in playpens. In addition, children in crèches with the longer exposure (about 5 months) have significantly higher personal-social and problem-solving scores than those in crèches with minimum exposure. Enrollment in crèches of very young children may be positively associated with psychosocial scores after accounting for important confounding variables.

Shifting disease burden in low and middle-income countries: a 14-year survival analysis of childhood mortality in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to compare all-cause mortality and drowning-specific mortality rates and survival times among birth cohorts of children from rural Bangladesh over a 14-year period. METHOD: Seven birth cohorts of children aged 12-59 months were created using data from the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Bangladesh. Each cohort represents children born within a 2-year interval between 1 July 1995 and 30 June 2009, who were then evaluated over a 2-year snapshot. All-cause and drowning-specific mortality rates were compared for each cohort using the oldest cohort (cohort 1) as reference. A Cox proportional model was used to estimate hazard rate ratios (HRR) comparing the cohorts, and adjusted for key independent variables. Kaplan-Meier survivor function was estimated for each birth cohort and compared with cohort 1 using log-rank test. RESULTS: The adjusted HRR for all-cause mortality showed that children in cohorts 4, 5, 6 and 7 had significantly lower hazard rate compared with cohort 1 with a dose-response relationship, the adjusted HRRs were 0.51 (95% CI 0.31, 0.84), 0.53 (95% CI 0.32, 0.87), 0.44 (95% CI 0.26, 0.76) and 0.42 (95% CI 0.24, 0.74), respectively. For drowning, none of the adjusted HRR was statistically significant. Mother's primary education and being married were protective of risk of death from all causes. CONCLUSION: Whereas child mortality rates from all causes declined remarkably between 1998 and 2012 in rural Bangladesh, drowning-specific mortality rates remained unchanged. This shifting burden of disease underscores the epidemiological transition in the childhood causes of death in Bangladesh and the need for urgent action to review child health interventions.

Epidemiology of Burns in Rural Bangladesh: An Update.

Each year, approximately 265,000 deaths occur due to burns on a global scale. In Bangladesh, around 173,000 children under 18 sustain a burn injury. Since most epidemiological studies on burn injuries in low and middle-income countries are based on small-scale surveys or hospital records, this study aims to derive burn mortality and morbidity measures and risk factors at a population level in Bangladesh. A household survey was conducted in seven rural sub-districts of Bangladesh in 2013 to assess injury outcomes. Burn injuries were one of the external causes of injury. Epidemiological characteristics and risk factors were described using descriptive as well as univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The overall mortality and morbidity rates were 2 deaths and 528 injuries per 100,000 populations. Females had a higher burn rate. More than 50% of injuries were seen in adults 25 to 64 years of age. Most injuries occurred in the kitchen while preparing food. 88% of all burns occurred due to flame. Children 1 to 4 years of age were four times more likely to sustain burn injuries as compared to infants. Age-targeted interventions, awareness of first aid protocols, and improvement of acute care management would be potential leads to curb death and disability due to burn injuries.