Treatment outcomes of severe acute malnutrition and predictors of recovery in under-five children treated within outpatient therapeutic programs in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Severe acute malnutrition affects around 17 million under-five children in the world, of which the highest burden is accounted by Sub-Saharan Africa where Ethiopia is found. Though there are few individual, inconsistent and inconclusive studies, there is no nationally representative study on treatment outcomes of SAM in outpatient therapeutic feeding programs of Ethiopia. This study aimed at estimating the pooled treatment outcomes and predictors of recovery rate among under- five children with SAM in Ethiopia. METHODS: Electronic databases (PubMed, Medline (EBSCOhost), EMBASE (Elsevier), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), web of science, Scopus, Science Direct and Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA)), and grey literature sources (Google scholar, Mednar, World Cat and google) were used to retrieve articles. The random effect model was used to estimate the pooled treatment outcomes. Hazard ratios were used to determine the predictors of recovery rate. Cochran’s Q, I(2), and univariate Meta regression were done for heterogeneity. Begg’s & Egger’s tests were used for publication bias. RESULTS: Nineteen articles with a total number of 23,395 under-five children with SAM were used for this meta-analysis. The pooled recovery, death, defaulter and non-recovery rates were 70% (95% CI: 64, 76), 2% (95% CI: 1, 2), 10% (95%CI: 7, 12), 15% (95% CI: 10, 20), respectively. Diarrhea (HR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.75, 0.94), no edema (HR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.33, 0.50) and amoxicillin (HR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.18, 2.44) were independent predictors of recovery rate of children with SAM in Ethiopia. Publication year was found to be the potential source of heterogeneity between included studies. CONCLUSION: The treatment outcomes of children with SAM from outpatient therapeutic feeding programs of Ethiopia are lower than the sphere guidelines, WHO and national recommendations. Diarrhea and no edema antagonized the recovery rate of children, while amoxicillin enhanced the recovery rate of children from SAM. Community health workers need to be trained. Especial attention should be given while treating children with diarrhea and severe wasting. Community mobilization is also recommended to improve community awareness about the therapeutic foods.