Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014 Sep 29;14:366. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-366.
Probiotic products that may modify the intestinal microbiota are becoming increasingly available and known to consumers due to their potential to prevent or treat many pediatric health conditions. As scientific knowledge of the health benefits of probiotics increases, it is important to identify factors that may prevent their successful integration into patient care as well as to ensure effective translation of research findings. The aim of this study was to describe maternal perspectives on probiotics and their use in infants.
Mothers with a child aged two years or younger enrolled in the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study were invited by email to complete a 29 item self-administered web-based questionnaire.
A total of 413 mothers of the 1327 contacted completed the questionnaire. The majority (99.3%) of respondents had heard of probiotics and were aware that they contained live bacteria (87.0%); 89.3% had used a product containing probiotics themselves but only 50.8% had given one to their infant. Most mothers indicated they believed that probiotics were beneficial (73.1%) and none thought they were harmful. Over a third of mothers did not feel informed enough to make a decision on whether probiotics were safe to use in infants (36.6%).
The study demonstrates that awareness and understanding of probiotics is high among mothers in Alberta, Canada. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the benefit of probiotics as well as safety in infants which could be important factors determining therapeutic use in the future. Further studies that demonstrate beneficial effects and safety of probiotics in healthy infants as well as targeted knowledge translation should help to address these potential concerns.
由于益生菌产品具有预防或治疗多种儿科健康状况的潜力，因此越来越受到消费者的关注，这些产品可以改变肠道微生物群。随着人们对益生菌健康益处的科学认识不断提高，确定可能阻止其成功纳入患者护理的因素以及确保研究结果的有效转化变得尤为重要。本研究旨在描述母亲对益生菌及其在婴儿中的应用的看法。
通过电子邮件邀请年龄在 2 岁或以下的子女参加艾伯塔省妊娠结局和营养（APrON）研究的母亲完成一份 29 项自我管理的网络问卷。
在联系的 1327 位母亲中，共有 413 位母亲完成了问卷。大多数（99.3%）受访者听说过益生菌，并且知道它们含有活菌（87.0%）；89.3%的人自己使用过含有益生菌的产品，但只有 50.8%的人给婴儿服用过。大多数母亲表示她们认为益生菌有益（73.1%），没有人认为它们有害。超过三分之一的母亲表示，她们对是否可以安全地在婴儿中使用益生菌做出决定没有足够的信心（36.6%）。
该研究表明，加拿大艾伯塔省的母亲对益生菌的认识和理解程度很高。然而，对于益生菌的益处以及在婴儿中的安全性仍然存在不确定性，这可能是未来决定治疗用途的重要因素。进一步的研究表明，益生菌对健康婴儿的有益效果和安全性，以及有针对性的知识转化，应该有助于解决这些潜在的问题。
