TY - JOUR

T1 - Integrating a Group-Based, Early Childhood Parenting Intervention into Primary Health Care Services in Rural Bangladesh: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial

AU - Mehrin, Syeda Fardina

AU - Hasan, Mohammed Imrul

AU - Tofail, Fahmida

AU - Shiraji, Shamima

AU - Ridout, Deborah

AU - Grantham-McGregor, Sally

AU - Hamadani, Jena Derakshani

AU - Baker-Henningham, Helen

N1 - This work was funded by the Saving Brains programme of Grand Challenges Canada. The data was analysed and the manuscript written with support from British Academy Early Childhood Development Programme, Grant number: EC170101

PY - 2022/6/10

Y1 - 2022/6/10

N2 - Background: Over 250 million children globally do not reach their developmental potential. We tested whether integrating a group-based, early childhood parenting program into government healthcare clinics improved children's development, growth, and behavior.Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 40 community clinics in the Kishorganj district of Bangladesh. We randomly assigned clinics (1:1) to deliver a group-based parenting interventions or to a comparison group that received no intervention. Participants were children aged 5-24 months, with weight-for-age z-score of ≤ -1.5 SDs of the WHO standards, living within a thirty-minute walking distance from the clinic ( n = 419 intervention, 366 control). Government health staff facilitated parenting sessions in the clinic with groups of four mother/child dyads fortnightly for one year as part of their routine duties. Primary outcomes measured at baseline and endline were child development assessed using the Bayley scales, child behaviors during the test by tester ratings, and child growth. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02208531. Findings: 91% of children were tested at endline (396 intervention, 319 control). Multilevel analyses showed significant benefits of intervention to child cognition (effect size 0.85 SDs, 95% CI: 0.59, 1.11), language (0.69 SDs, 0.43, 0.94), and motor development (0.52 SDs, 0.31, 0.73), and to child behaviors during the test (ranging from 0.36 SDs, 0.14, 0.58, to 0.53 SDs, 0.35, 0.71). There were no significant effects on growth.Conclusion: A scalable parenting intervention, integrated into existing government health services and implemented by government health staff, led to significant benefits to child development and behavior.

AB - Background: Over 250 million children globally do not reach their developmental potential. We tested whether integrating a group-based, early childhood parenting program into government healthcare clinics improved children's development, growth, and behavior.Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 40 community clinics in the Kishorganj district of Bangladesh. We randomly assigned clinics (1:1) to deliver a group-based parenting interventions or to a comparison group that received no intervention. Participants were children aged 5-24 months, with weight-for-age z-score of ≤ -1.5 SDs of the WHO standards, living within a thirty-minute walking distance from the clinic ( n = 419 intervention, 366 control). Government health staff facilitated parenting sessions in the clinic with groups of four mother/child dyads fortnightly for one year as part of their routine duties. Primary outcomes measured at baseline and endline were child development assessed using the Bayley scales, child behaviors during the test by tester ratings, and child growth. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02208531. Findings: 91% of children were tested at endline (396 intervention, 319 control). Multilevel analyses showed significant benefits of intervention to child cognition (effect size 0.85 SDs, 95% CI: 0.59, 1.11), language (0.69 SDs, 0.43, 0.94), and motor development (0.52 SDs, 0.31, 0.73), and to child behaviors during the test (ranging from 0.36 SDs, 0.14, 0.58, to 0.53 SDs, 0.35, 0.71). There were no significant effects on growth.Conclusion: A scalable parenting intervention, integrated into existing government health services and implemented by government health staff, led to significant benefits to child development and behavior.

KW - Parenting

KW - Early childhood development

KW - integrated services

KW - low- and middle-income countries

KW - psychosocial stimulation

U2 - 10.3389/fped.2022.886542

DO - 10.3389/fped.2022.886542

M3 - Article

C2 - 35783319

VL - 10

JO - Frontiers in Pediatrics

JF - Frontiers in Pediatrics

SN - 2296-2360

M1 - 886542

ER -