Abstract:

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) poses a significant threat to child health in Nigeria. The CMAM program provides essential treatment for children with SAM, and treatment quality is influenced by how well caregivers understand key CMAM messages. This study evaluates the effect of audio messages on treatment outcomes in SAM cases compared to traditional health talks. An interventional study design was used, involving 80 SAM children in Adamawa State. Participants were divided into two groups: the experimental group received weekly audio messages in Hausa, while the control group received traditional health talks from health workers. Treatment outcomes were measured based on weight gain and mid-upper arm circumference. Data were collected via the mHealth platform and analysed on SPSS 16 using t-tests to determine statistical significance. The mean age of the respondents was 28 years with an age range of 16.0 – 50.0 years, while the mean age of the index children was 15 months with a range of 6.0 – 48.0 months. The number of successful treatments was higher in the Experimental group than in the Control group. The t-test for equality of means for treatment outcomes across the two groups was, however not significant (P> 0.005) at a 95% Confidence Interval. Conclusively, we accept the null hypothesis. Audio recordings of CMAM key messages were equally effective as traditional health talks in influencing treatment outcomes in CMAM interventions. The use of audio messages has the potential to ease the burden of health workers while ensuring consistency in message delivery without reducing the efficacy of treatment.

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