This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Pattern of Household Poverty, Childhood Illness, and Mortality

Subarna K. Khatry, FRCS; Keith P. West, Jr, DrPH; Joanne Katz, ScD; Steven C. LeClerq, MPH; Elizabeth K. Pradhan; Lee Shu-Fune Wu, MHS; M. D. Thapa, OA; Ram Prasad Pokhrel, FRCS; Sarlahi Study Group

Arch Ophthalmol. 1995;113(4):425-429.

Abstract
A case-control study of xerophthalmia (120 cases, two with corneal disease; 3377 children without xerophthalmia, 12 to 60 months of age) was conducted in the rural plains of Nepal. Relative household wealth (ownership of animals and goods, house quality) and social standing (parental education, nondaily laboring, more affluent castes) were inversely related to risk of xerophthalmia. Mothers of cases were more likely to have had children die than mothers of controls (odds ratio, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 2.78); case households were more likely to have had a young child die in the past year (odds ratio, 2.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.43 to 5.67). Children with xerophthalmia were more wasted and stunted than controls, although these associations largely disappeared after adjusting for socioeconomic influences. Frequency of breast-feeding was highly protective against xerophthalmia in a dose-response manner (odds ratio, 0.32 for 1 to 10 times a day, 0.12 for >10 times a day) after adjusting for age and other factors. The risk of xerophthalmia rose directly with reported duration of dysentery in the previous week (odds ratio, 2.13 and 5.81 for durations of 1 to 6 days and 7 days, respectively, vs none). Mild xerophthalmia is reflective of a lower, local standard of living within which child health, nutrition, and survival are compromised.

Author Affiliations
From the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, Kathmandu, Nepal (Drs Khatry and Pokhrel and Mr Thapa), and the Center for Human Nutrition and Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, The Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Baltimore, Md (Drs West and Katz, Mr LeClerq, and Mss Pradhan and Wu). Members of The Sarlahi Study Group are listed at the end of this article.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Malnutrition and Morbidity Are Higher in Children Who Are Missed by Periodic Vitamin A Capsule Distribution for Child Survival in Rural Indonesia
Berger et al.
J. Nutr. 2007;137:1328-1333.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A randomised trial of povidone-iodine to reduce visual impairment from corneal ulcers in rural Nepal
Katz et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 2004;88:1487-1492.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Recommendations for Vitamin A Supplementation
Ross
J. Nutr. 2002;132:2902S-2906.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effects of Vitamin A on Growth of Vitamin A-Deficient Children: Field Studies in Nepal
West Jr. et al.
J. Nutr. 1997;127:1957-1965.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Population-Based Study of Xerophthalmia in the Extreme North Province of Cameroon, West Africa
Wilson et al.
Arch Ophthalmol 1996;114:464-468.
ABSTRACT