Title |
Developing regional weight-for-age growth references for malaria-endemic countries to optimize age-based dosing of antimalarials
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Published in |
Bulletin of the World Health Organization, November 2014
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DOI | 10.2471/blt.14.139113 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Daniel J Hayes, Stef van Buuren, Feiko O ter Kuile, D Mikis Stasinopoulos, Robert A Rigby, Dianne J Terlouw |
Abstract |
To derive regional weight-for-age growth references to help optimize age-based dosing of antimalarials in Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. A weight-for-age database was constructed from pre-existing population-based anthropometric data obtained from household surveys and research groups. It contained data collected between 1995 and 2012 on 1 263 119 individuals (909 368 female, 353 751 male) older than 14 days and younger than 50 years in 64 malaria-endemic countries. Regional growth references were generated using a generalized additive model for location, scale and shape by combining data with varying distributions from a range of sources. Countries were weighted by their population at risk of malaria to enable references to be used in optimizing the dosing of antimalarials. Large differences in weight-for-age distributions existed between the regions and between the regions and global growth standards. For example, the average adult male from the Americas weighed 68.1 kg - 6.0 kg more than males in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific (average: 62.1 kg). For adult women, the difference was over 10.4 kg: the average was 60.4 kg in the Americas and 50.0 kg in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. There were substantial variations in weight-for-age growth curves between malaria-endemic areas. The growth reference charts derived here can be used to guide the evidence-based optimization of aged-based dosing regimens for antimalarials and other drugs often prescribed by age. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United Kingdom | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 34 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 7 | 20% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 17% |
Other | 4 | 11% |
Student > Master | 4 | 11% |
Student > Postgraduate | 2 | 6% |
Other | 3 | 9% |
Unknown | 9 | 26% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 29% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 9% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 6% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 6% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 6% |
Other | 6 | 17% |
Unknown | 10 | 29% |