Trial reportNature medicine2026
A sustainable house design to improve child health in rural Africa: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Nature medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04529434 (Star Homes - Better Health Through Better Housing), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Star Homes - Better Health Through Better Housing: Phase 2 House Evaluation
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Integrating public health into house design.Nature medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Malaria, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the major causes of mortality in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Here we provide support for the hypothesis that children can be protected from these diseases by improvements in house design. We designed a novel double-story house, called a Star Home, to provide an insect-proof, cleaner, cooler and smoke-free environment, with a reliable supply of water and sanitation. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial where households with children under 13 years of age were randomly allocated (1:4.7) to living in 110 Star Homes or in 513 traditional mud and thatched-roofed houses. The primary outcome of childhood malaria incidence was met: after 3 years, children living in Star Homes had 44% less malaria (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.56 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.43-0.72), P < 0.0001) compared to children living in traditional homes. Children in Star Homes had 30% less diarrhea (IRR: 0.70 (95% CI: 0.53-0.91), P = 0.0070) and 18% less ARIs (IRR: 0.82 (95% CI: 0.73-0.93), P = 0.0010) than children living in traditional homes. Children under 5 years of age living in Star Homes were also taller for their age than those living in traditional homes. Our house design is intended to inspire those working in the building sector and with local communities to develop innovative designs for healthier homes. Major improvements in rural house design have the potential to make a substantial public health impact across hot, humid regions of Africa. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04529434 .
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.