Başar Güneş Hülya, Bayraktar Ekincioğlu Aygin, Karakan Tarkan, Demirkan Kutay
Yeni Oyak Pharmacy, Ankara, Türkiye.
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Ankara, Türkiye.
Turk J Pharm Sci. 2024 Mar 25;21(1):36-41. doi: 10.4274/tjps.galenos.2023.36974.
Probiotics have been gaining increased attention from the public recently, which originates concerns about their rationale use among healthcare professionals. Although there is evidence on the efficacy and safety of probiotics in certain gastrointestinal disorders, it is important to identify healthcare professionals' opinions on probiotics. This study aimed to identify the opinions of pharmacists and physicians on the use of probiotics.
This cross-sectional study was conducted between November, 2017 and August, 2018 among pharmacists and physicians practicing in Ankara, Türkiye. An electronic survey was designed and sent to the participants e-mail.
A total of 361 pharmacists (74.5% female) and 356 physicians (42.4% female) participated in the study. Approximately two-thirds of pharmacists and physicians were familiar with the mechanism of action and indications of probiotics. Most pharmacists and physicians recommended probiotics to be used in gastrointestinal system disorders (99.7% and 97.7%). Other areas that probiotics are commonly recommended was genitourinary system (29.3%) by pharmacists and dermatological symptoms (15.1%) by phycisians, respectively. Considering patient advice regarding the probiotics, pharmacists (63.3%) seemed to receive more requests compared to physicians (30.9%); and with regard to the probiotic recommendation, 70.7% and 38.2% of pharmacists and physicians, respectively, indicated that they have no concerns, but 61% of physicians have concerns on reimbursement policy when prescribing.
Pharmacists and physicians are healthcare providers commonly asked about probiotics by patients. Therefore, it is important to address healthcare professionals' concerns and increase their knowledge of the use of probiotics for different health conditions. Given that probiotic products can be purchased without a prescription, healthcare professionals in primary care settings should be more vigilant about the rational use of probiotics.
益生菌最近越来越受到公众的关注，这引发了医疗保健专业人员对其合理使用的担忧。尽管有证据表明益生菌在某些胃肠道疾病中的有效性和安全性，但确定医疗保健专业人员对益生菌的看法很重要。本研究旨在确定药剂师和医生对益生菌使用的看法。
这项横断面研究于2017年11月至2018年8月在土耳其安卡拉执业的药剂师和医生中进行。设计了一项电子调查问卷，并通过电子邮件发送给参与者。
共有361名药剂师（74.5%为女性）和356名医生（42.4%为女性）参与了该研究。大约三分之二的药剂师和医生熟悉益生菌的作用机制和适应症。大多数药剂师和医生建议在胃肠道系统疾病中使用益生菌（分别为99.7%和97.7%）。药剂师通常推荐使用益生菌的其他领域是生殖泌尿系统（29.3%），而医生推荐的是皮肤症状（15.1%）。考虑到患者关于益生菌的咨询，与医生（30.9%）相比，药剂师（63.3%）似乎收到了更多的咨询请求；关于益生菌的推荐，分别有70.7%的药剂师和38.2%的医生表示他们没有担忧，但61%的医生在开处方时对报销政策有所担忧。
药剂师和医生是患者通常会咨询益生菌问题的医疗保健提供者。因此，解决医疗保健专业人员的担忧并增加他们对不同健康状况下益生菌使用的知识很重要。鉴于益生菌产品无需处方即可购买，基层医疗保健机构的专业人员应更加警惕益生菌的合理使用。
