Rani Uzma, Ehrlich Julie, Fakhri Ghina, Doklaijah Mohammed, Stewart Telisa, Berry Winter, Imdad Aamer
State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Division of General Pediatrics and Stead Family, Department of Pediatrics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Nutrients. 2025 Mar 10;17(6):963. doi: 10.3390/nu17060963.
The therapeutic or prophylactic efficacy and safety of probiotics are not well established. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of probiotic use in children among pediatric providers.
This was a cross-sectional study of pediatric providers. A survey was sent to the members of the American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Chapter 1.
We received 168 responses. Participants were mostly females (70%) and with MD or equivalent education (93%). About 50% of responders did not select the correct definition of probiotics and confused probiotics with prebiotics and synbiotics. About 97% of practitioners were asked about the merits of probiotics by families, and 60% of respondents had prescribed probiotics in their clinical practice. The most common indication for prescription was for treatment of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. When asked about their recommendation for a family who had already started probiotics, 66% of the providers recommended continuing the probiotics. There was a significant association between the frequency of probiotics prescription and the type of practice ( < 0.05). However, this association disappeared after adjusting for age, gender, education, and years of practice. The more experienced the practitioner, the lower the odds were of prescribing probiotics ( < 0.05).
There was inadequate knowledge about probiotics among general pediatric providers. Of the pediatricians asked about probiotics, most recommended continuing them if a family was using probiotics for a specific condition. Studies with a larger nationally representative sample are required for future research.
益生菌的治疗或预防功效及安全性尚未得到充分证实。本研究的目的是评估儿科医疗服务提供者对儿童使用益生菌的认知和实践情况。
这是一项针对儿科医疗服务提供者的横断面研究。向美国儿科学会纽约第1分会的成员发送了一份调查问卷。
我们收到了168份回复。参与者大多为女性（70%），拥有医学博士学位或同等学历（93%）。约50%的受访者未选择正确的益生菌定义，将益生菌与益生元及合生元混淆。约97%的从业者被家长问及益生菌的益处，60%的受访者在临床实践中曾开具过益生菌处方。最常见的处方指征是治疗抗生素相关性腹泻。当被问及对已经开始使用益生菌的家庭的建议时，66%的医疗服务提供者建议继续使用益生菌。益生菌处方频率与执业类型之间存在显著关联（<0.05）。然而，在对年龄、性别、教育程度和执业年限进行调整后，这种关联消失了。从业者经验越丰富，开具益生菌处方的几率越低（<0.05）。
普通儿科医疗服务提供者对益生菌的了解不足。在被问及益生菌的儿科医生中，大多数建议如果一个家庭因特定情况正在使用益生菌，则继续使用。未来的研究需要更大规模的具有全国代表性的样本。
