Abstract:
Background: Severe acute malnutrition affects more than 20 million children. Africa is pointed out as a region
where the problem is highly prevalent. There were individual studies on the recovery rate and its determinants
among children with severe acute malnutrition in Ethiopia. But, there is no national pooled estimate. Therefore, this
systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the recovery rate and determinants among children with
severe acute malnutrition admitted to the therapeutic feeding unit in Ethiopia.
Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline was followed in this
study. Studies were accessed through electronic web-based search from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar,
and EMBASE. The statistical analysis was conducted using STATA version-11 software. The pooled prevalence was
estimated with 95% confidence intervals using a random-effects model.
Result: A total of 12 studies were included with 2658 participants in the analysis. The overall pooled estimated
recovery rate among children with severe acute malnutrition admitted to the inpatient therapeutic feeding unit in
Ethiopia was 72.02 % (CI, 64.83, 79.22%). In the subgroup analysis, the highest estimate (80.29%) was observed in
studies conducted in Oromia regional state, while 68.63% was observed in studies Southern Nation Nationality of
people region 68.63%. Children who had no congestive heart failure were 4.88 times (OR, 4.88; 95% CI, 2.246,
10.586) more likely to recover than their counterparts.
Conclusion: The recovery rate among severe acute malnourished children on the therapeutic feeding unit in
Ethiopia lied within the international minimum sphere. Hence, health care providers shall strengthen the
management of severe acute malnutrition and management other co-morbidities like congestive heart failure.
Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42019119124
Keywords: Recovery rate, Therapeutic feeding unit, Severe acute malnutrition, Under-five children, Children,
Ethiopia
