Colombian Early Child Development Trial with 1,420 Children

1,420 children aged 12-24 months across 96 Colombian municipalities participated in an 18-month cluster randomized controlled trial. The study, authored by Orazio Attanasio, assessed the impact of psychosocial stimulation and micronutrient supplementation on cognitive, language, and motor development, as well as growth and hemoglobin levels. Results indicated stimulation improved cognitive and receptive language scores, while supplementation showed no significant effect.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the impact of psychosocial stimulation on cognitive development scores based on the Bayley scales
• Evaluating the null effect of micronutrient supplementation on child growth and hemoglobin levels
• Studying the implementation of integrated interventions through existing national welfare program infrastructure
• Comparing outcomes across different intervention groups (stimulation, supplementation, combined, control) in a factorial design

Strengths

• Data originates from a cluster randomized controlled trial, a robust study design for causal inference
• Includes 1,420 child participants, providing a substantial sample size
• Covers 96 municipalities across eight departments in Colombia, suggesting geographic diversity
• Measures multiple outcomes: cognitive, language, motor development, height, weight, and hemoglobin

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data may reflect geographic and demographic bias inherent to the specific trial locations in Colombia

Provenance

Source

paperswithcode

Collection Method

Cluster randomized controlled trial with a 2x2 factorial design

Geography

96 municipalities across eight departments in Colombia