Table 2 Sociodemographic, clinical, and biochemical characteristics of the study sample
Characteristics | Total 684 (100) | Female 335 (51.9) | Male 329 (48.1) | P-value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
Child age (years) | 0.2567 | |||
 5–10 | 437 (62.1) | 230 (32.8) | 125 (17.8) |  |
 11–14 | 247 (37.7) | 207 (29.3) | 122 (20.1) |  |
Fever in last 2Â weeks | 0.4187 | |||
 Yes | 163 (24.8) | 83 (13.4) | 272 (37.2) |  |
 No | 521 (75.2) | 80 (11.4) | 249 (38.0) |  |
Diarrhea in last 2Â weeks | 0.4187 | |||
 Yes | 37 (6.0) | 15 (2.7) | 338 (47.9) |  |
 No | 643 (94.0) | 22 (3.3) | 305 (46.1) |  |
Asymptomatic malaria | 0.0098 | |||
 Yes | 257 (41.5) | 144 (24.1) | 211 (26.5) |  |
 No | 427 (58.5) | 113 (174) | 216 (32.0) |  |
Clinical malaria | ||||
 Yes | 253 (40.9) | 141 (23.8) | 213 (26.8) | 0.0104 |
 No | 4331 (59.1) | 111 (17.1) | 218 (32.3) |  |
C-reactive protein (CRP) | 0.2943 | |||
 ≤ 5 mg/dL | 573 (83.1) | 291 (41.1) | 64 (9.5) |  |
 > 5 mg/dL | 111 (16.9) | 282 (42.0) | 47 (7.4) |  |
Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) | 0.1713 | |||
 ≤ 1 g/L | 459 (68.2) | 230 (32.9) | 125 (17.7) |  |
 > 1 g/L | 225 (31.8) | 229 (35.2) | 100 (14.2) |  |
Elevated CRP or AGP | 0.0952 | |||
 No | 447 (65.9) | 223 (31.4) | 132 (19.2) |  |
 Yes | 237 (34.1) | 224 (34.5) | 105 (14.9) |  |
Household hunger scale | 0.3788 | |||
 Little to none | 341 (40.2) | 175 (19.3) | 180 (31.3) |  |
 Moderate to severe | 355 (59.8) | 166 (20.9) | 163 (28.5) |  |
Place of residence | ||||
 Urban | 89 (5.2) | 47 (2.0) | 308 (48.6) | 0.2418 |
 Rural | 595 (94.8) | 42 (3.2) | 287 (46.2) |  |
Geographical region | ||||
 North | 230 (13.8) | 117 (6.3) | 113 (7.5) | 0.6552 |
 Central | 250 (41.8) | 113 (21.6) | 117 (20.2) |  |
 South | 204 (44.4) | 105 (22.7) | 99 (21.7) |  |
Anemia | 0.3050 | |||
 < 12 g/dL | 129 (20.4) | 270 (40.3) | 59 (9.1) |  |
 ≥ 12 g/dL | 555 (79.6) | 285 (39.3) | 70 (11.3) |  |
Serum ferritin | 0.5665 | |||
 < 15 µg/L | 30 (5.0) | 311 (46.6) | 18 (2.8) |  |
 ≥ 15 µg/L | 654 (95.0) | 343 (48.4) | 12 (2.2) |  |
Soluble transferrin receptors (sTfR) | 0.0797 | |||
 < 8.3 mg/L | 490 (69.7) | 249 (33.3) | 106 (17.3) |  |
 ≥ 8.3 mg/L | 194 (30.3) | 241 (36.5) | 88 (13.0) |  |