Effectiveness of screening and treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition by community health workers in Simiyu region, Tanzania: a quasi-experimental pilot study.

Health system constraints hamper treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Tanzania. This non-inferiority quasi-experimental study in Bariadi (intervention) and Maswa (control) districts assessed the effectiveness, coverage, and cost-effectiveness of SAM treatment by community health workers (CHWs) compared with outpatient therapeutic care (OTC). We included 154 and 210 children aged 6-59 months with SAM [mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 11.