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Clinical Trial
. 2003 Aug 2;327(7409):254.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7409.254.

Impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on early infant mortality: community based randomised trial in southern India

Lakshmi Rahmathullah  1 , James M Tielsch, R D Thulasiraj, Joanne Katz, Christian Coles, Sheela Devi, Rajeesh John, Karthik Prakash, A V Sadanand, N Edwin, C Kamaraj
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on early infant mortality: community based randomised trial in southern India

Lakshmi Rahmathullah et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on mortality at age 6 months.

Design: Community based, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial.

Setting: Two rural districts of Tamil Nadu, southern India.

Participants: 11 619 newborn infants allocated 24 000 IU oral vitamin A or placebo on days 1 and 2 after delivery.

Main outcome measure: Primary outcome measure was mortality at age 6 months.

Results: Infants in the vitamin A group had a 22% reduction in total mortality (95% confidence interval 4% to 37%) compared with those in the placebo group. Vitamin A had an impact on mortality between two weeks and three months after treatment, with no additional impact after three months.

Conclusion: Supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A can significantly reduce early infant mortality.

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Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Flow of participants through trial
Fig 2
Fig 2
Kaplan-Meier survival curve for infants whose mothers were randomised but who were not enrolled and received supplementation with vitamin A. Log rank test: χ2=0.12, P=0.73, hazard ratio 1.05 (0.80 to 1.37)
Fig 3
Fig 3
Kaplan-Meier survival curve for enrolled infants. Log rank test: χ2=5.12, P=0.02, hazard ratio 0.78 (0.63 to 0.97)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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