Potential interventions for the prevention of childhood pneumonia in developing countries: a meta-analysis of data from field trials to assess the impact of vitamin A supplementation on pneumonia morbidity and mortality. The Vitamin A and Pneumonia Working Group.
Year: 1995
Type: review
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: Reported are the results of a meta-analysis (12 large-scale field trials in seven countries) of the impact of vitamin A supplementation on pneumonia morbidity and mortality, undertaken as part of a wider review process of a range of possible potential interventions for the prevention of childhood pneumonia. The summary estimate of the relative risk for the impact of vitamin A supplementation on pneumonia incidence was 0.95 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.89, 1.01), and for pneumonia mortality, 0.98 (95% CI = 0.75, 1.28). This is in marked contrast to the substantial impact of vitamin A supplementation on all-cause mortality (combined rate ratio (RR) = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.84), and on diarrhoea-specific and measles-specific mortality. There was no evidence for a differential impact on pneumonia mortality by age. Since the majority of pneumonia deaths occur in the first year of life, we complemented the paucity of data on pneumonia-specific mortality among this age group with a detailed examination of all-cause mortality among infants. The mortality reduction in the 6-11 month age group was consistent with that observed for older age groups (RR = 0.69; 95% CI = 0.54, 0.90), but there was no reduction for 0-5 month-olds (RR = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.73, 1.29).
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Alfred Sommer, Lakshmi Rahmathullah, Barbara A. Underwood, R. C. Milton, Reddy, Keith P. West, Nils Daulaire, Thérèse A. Stukel, Garcés Herrera, SallyK. Stansfield, David A. Ross, Betty Kirkwood, Paul Arthur, Saul S. Morris, Chris Kjolhede, Michael J. Dibley, Maurício L. Barreto, M. K. Bhan, S Gove
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3193502040