Development of children at risk for adverse outcomes participating in early intervention in developing countries: A randomized controlled trial

Background Previous research has indicated positive effects of early developmental intervention (EDI) on the development of children in developing countries. Few studies, however, have examined longitudinally when differential treatment effects may be observed and whether differential outcomes are associated with exposure to different risk factors and country of implementation. Also, birth asphyxia as a risk condition has not been well studied. To address these limitations, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis that there will be differential developmental trajectories favoring those who receive EDI versus a health education intervention in children in rural areas of India, Pakistan, and Zambia.