Valdovinos-García L R, Abreu A T, Valdovinos-Díaz M A
Departamento de Gastroenterología, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, SSA, Ciudad de México, México.
Unidad de Medicina de Atención Ambulatoria Villa Coapa, Hospital General Regional N.° 2, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México.
Rev Gastroenterol Mex (Engl Ed). 2019 Jul-Sep;84(3):303-309. doi: 10.1016/j.rgmx.2018.05.004. Epub 2018 Jun 28.
Probiotics are effective in gastrointestinal disease management. In Mexico, there are no studies on the use and prescription of probiotics by healthcare professionals. Our aim was to evaluate probiotic use and prescription on the part of gastroenterologists and nutritionists.
An online survey questionnaire was sent to members of the Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología (n = 1042), the Asociación Mexicana de Nutriología (n = 220), and healthcare professionals registered at the Fourth International Symposium: Intestinal Microbiota (n = 1328).
Response was 34% (997 questionnaires answered) and 570 (64%) of the respondents were women. Mean participant age was 36.2 years (range 18-83). Thirty-six percent of the participants were gastroenterologists, 46% were nutritionists, and 18% were chemists and microbiologists. Seventy-one percent of the respondents knew the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition of probiotics and recommended them «always» (64.9%), «rarely» (31.7%), and «never» (3.6%). Gastroenterologists indicated probiotics for the treatment of disease (56.5%) and nutritionists for health maintenance (39%). Ninety-seven percent of the gastroenterologists and 98% of the nutritionists evaluated probiotics as effective in gastrointestinal symptom management and considered them safe. The majority of the respondents did not know which probiotic strain was contained in the commercial probiotic product.
The survey results showed that the participating gastroenterologists and nutritionists understood the concept of probiotics, recommended them frequently, and considered them safe. The gastroenterologists prescribed probiotics as therapeutic agents and the nutritionists to maintain health. There was a lack of knowledge about the microbial composition of the products containing probiotics available in Mexico.
益生菌在胃肠道疾病管理中有效。在墨西哥，尚无关于医疗保健专业人员使用和开具益生菌处方的研究。我们的目的是评估胃肠病学家和营养学家对益生菌的使用及处方情况。
向墨西哥胃肠病学协会成员（n = 1042）、墨西哥营养学会成员（n = 220）以及在第四届国际研讨会：肠道微生物群注册的医疗保健专业人员（n = 1328）发送了一份在线调查问卷。
回复率为34%（共997份问卷得到回复），570名（64%）受访者为女性。参与者的平均年龄为36.2岁（范围18 - 83岁）。36%的参与者是胃肠病学家，46%是营养学家，18%是化学家和微生物学家。71%的受访者知晓联合国粮食及农业组织（FAO）对益生菌的定义，并“总是”推荐（64.9%）、“很少”推荐（31.7%）以及“从不”推荐（3.6%）。胃肠病学家指出益生菌用于疾病治疗（56.5%），营养学家则用于健康维持（39%）。97%的胃肠病学家和98%的营养学家评估益生菌在胃肠道症状管理方面有效，并认为它们是安全的。大多数受访者不知道市售益生菌产品中含有的是哪种益生菌菌株。
调查结果表明，参与调查的胃肠病学家和营养学家理解益生菌的概念，经常推荐它们，并认为它们是安全的。胃肠病学家将益生菌作为治疗药物开具处方，营养学家则用于维持健康。墨西哥人对市售含益生菌产品的微生物组成缺乏了解。
