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In Ethiopia, 21% are underweight, 36% stunted, and 7% wasted. This study assesses recovery time from SAM in children admitted to public hospitals in Jimma Town. We conducted a retrospective study with 323 participants, collecting data from medical charts and analyzing it in Stata version 15. Used Kaplan-Meier for survival analysis and Cox regression for predictors of hospital stay, considering p-values\u2009&lt;\u20090.05 as significant. A total of 81.1% of children with severe acute malnutrition recovered, with a recovery rate of 6.8 per 100 person-days and a median recovery time of 12 days. The predictors of nutritional recovery time were: unvaccinated (AHR\u2009=\u20091.630, 95% CI: 1.444, 1.894), having medical complications (AHR\u2009=\u20091.335, 95% CI: 1.195, 1.576), tuberculosis (AHR\u2009=\u20091.565, 95% CI: 1.395\u20132.809), pneumonia (AHR\u2009=\u20092.668, 95% CI: 2.405\u20132.769), being non-edematous (AHR\u2009=\u20091.880, 95% CI: 1.278, 2.765), marasmic kwashiorkor (AHR\u2009=\u20092.000, 95% CI: 1.254, 3.486), and hospital-acquired infections (AHR\u2009=\u20091.459, 95% CI: 1.315, 1.669). The study found optimal median recovery time influenced by vaccination status, comorbidities, and medical complications. Improved vaccination coverage, timely treatment, and infection control reduce hospital stays for severe acute malnutrition.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-28931-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,23]],"date-time":"2025-12-23T19:15:08Z","timestamp":1766517308000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Duration of recovery from severe acute malnutrition and associated factors in children aged 6\u201359 months: a retrospective cohort study"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Hikma","family":"Fedlu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lata","family":"Fekadu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2466-463X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amanuel Mengistu","family":"Merera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kumara","family":"Asafa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Firew","family":"Tiruneh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"28931_CR1","unstructured":"WHO. 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