Alharbi Samah A, Obaid Najla A
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Gen Med. 2025 Apr 26;18:2275-2288. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S498171. eCollection 2025.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide many benefits to the human body when supplemented with a diet. In Saudi Arabia, there are limited studies on the use of probiotic supplements for some gastrointestinal inflammatory and infectious conditions. Many health professionals who provide health care for patients with gastrointestinal conditions may recommend probiotics at different degrees based on their knowledge and experience. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and practice of gastroenterologists and pharmacists in Saudi Arabia regarding probiotics.
We measured the practice of recommending, prescribing, and using probiotics by analyzing the responses of the healthcare specialists (gastroenterologists and pharmacists) using an anonymous online survey. The survey was constructed to explore the knowledge, use, and manner of prescribing probiotics by healthcare practitioners in the Saudi community to discuss health benefits with patients with gastrointestinal conditions.
Most gastroenterologists (61.5%) partially disagreed that probiotics could benefit the treatment of digestive symptoms. However, a third of the pharmacists agreed that probiotic products could relieve digestive symptoms. The attitude toward and practice of prescribing probiotics depend on many factors, including professionals' beliefs in the benefits of probiotics, insufficient evidence from previous studies and clinical trials about the beneficial use of probiotics, cost, and manufacturing brands.
Gastroenterologists' and pharmacists' knowledge of probiotics was up to date as evident by their ability to identify specific digestive disorders for which probiotics may be beneficial, as well as their rejection of the notion that probiotics are universally effective in all gastrointestinal disorders, which is a commonly held belief in the community. The cost of probiotics as supplements to dairy products or as brands alone may also affect the prescription of probiotics by health professionals, as shown in the current study.
益生菌是一类活的微生物，当添加到饮食中时，能给人体带来诸多益处。在沙特阿拉伯，关于益生菌补充剂用于某些胃肠道炎症和感染性疾病的研究有限。许多为胃肠道疾病患者提供医疗服务的健康专业人员可能会根据自己的知识和经验，在不同程度上推荐使用益生菌。本研究旨在探讨沙特阿拉伯胃肠病学家和药剂师关于益生菌的知识和实践情况。
我们通过分析医疗专家（胃肠病学家和药剂师）对一份匿名在线调查问卷的回复，来衡量他们推荐、开处方和使用益生菌的情况。该调查问卷旨在探究沙特社区医疗从业者在为胃肠道疾病患者讨论健康益处时，对益生菌的知识掌握、使用情况及开处方方式。
大多数胃肠病学家（61.5%）部分不同意益生菌对消化症状治疗有益的观点。然而，三分之一的药剂师认为益生菌产品可以缓解消化症状。对开处方使用益生菌的态度和实践取决于多种因素，包括专业人员对益生菌益处的信念、以往研究和临床试验中关于益生菌有益使用的证据不足、成本以及生产品牌。
胃肠病学家和药剂师对益生菌的知识是最新的，这体现在他们能够识别出益生菌可能有益的特定消化疾病，以及他们拒绝益生菌在所有胃肠道疾病中都普遍有效的观点，而这是社区中普遍持有的信念。如本研究所示，益生菌作为乳制品补充剂或单独作为品牌产品的成本，也可能影响健康专业人员对益生菌的处方开具。
