Overview
- The cluster-randomised study in 14 Telangana villages enrolled 6,131 people in the STAR arm and 5,255 in controls, with doorstep haemoglobin testing guiding iron–folic acid dosing.
- Overall anaemia prevalence was lower with STAR at 29.6% compared with 32.5% under routine services.
- Adolescent girls saw the largest gains, with a 15.3 percentage-point drop in anaemia and mean haemoglobin rises reported at 0.73 g/dL unadjusted and up to 1.03 g/dL after adjustment.
- Among women of reproductive age, anaemia fell by 4.4%, with adjusted mean haemoglobin increasing by 0.39 g/dL.
- Adherence to supplementation was modest—32% for therapeutic and 47.5% for prophylactic—prompting calls for stronger counselling, follow-up and integration of STAR into national programmes.