{
  "abstract": "Objectives To review the landscape of interventions to promote early child development (ECD) in children (0-5 years) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Arab countries.Methods EMBASE, PsycINFO, Medline OVID, Scopus databases, and grey literature were searched for trials reporting ECD promotive interventions in children below five years in MENA Arab countries in any language from inception to December 2024. Two authors screened titles and abstracts and reviewed full texts. Data on study design, participants characteristics, setting, intervention, and primary and secondary outcomes were independently extracted. Risk of Bias (RoB) for randomized trials was assessed using the Cochrane RoB tool. Discrepancies were discussed in fortnightly team meetings. This scoping review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Scoping Review guidelines.Results From 15400 studies, 218 full texts were reviewed and 18 were found eligible for inclusion comprising diverse interventions, ranging from parenting programs to mass media, clinical therapies, or early stimulation. Most interventions were for parenting support. The majority of studies (n=10) targeted typically developing children and the rest targeted children with neurodiversity. There was a significant impact for child-focused primary outcomes. Parent-focused secondary outcomes were more variable and less frequently significant.Conclusions In the MENA Arab countries, some interventions are promising. However, less than half demonstrated significant improvement across all reported primary outcomes and rely on less robust trial designs. There is a need for more randomized trials evaluating the impact of early childhood interventions.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon"
      ],
      "name": "Lama Charafeddine"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon"
      ],
      "name": "Mona Nabulsi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon"
      ],
      "name": "Maya Al Farran"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon"
      ],
      "name": "Catherine Hamzeh"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon"
      ],
      "name": "Ola El Zein"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Alya Alsager"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Sham Aldos"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Michelle Shah"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Wafaie Fawzi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Aisha Yousafzai"
    }
  ],
  "title": "86 Interventions to promote early child development in the Middle East and North Africa Arab countries: a scoping review",
  "uid": "c90af3fb-228a-5941-9a16-556b85fe4e56"
}