Abstract
BackgroundProbiotic 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.MethodsMothers 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.ResultsA 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%).ConclusionsThe 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.
Highlights
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
Probiotics are commonly defined as live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host [4]
We report here on responses to 9 questions relating to maternal awareness of probiotics, use in self and infants, as well as opinions surrounding probiotic use in infants
Summary
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. A large number of studies have been conducted to assess the potential beneficial effect of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of pediatric disease, including acute gastroenteritis, antibiotic associated diarrhea, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), constipation, allergic disease, colic and respiratory infections [5]. Efficacy of probiotics depends on the species and strain of bacteria, as well as the dosage and length of administration. Heterogeneity in these variables among studies as well as inadequacies in study design has likely contributed to the conflicting outcomes in probiotic studies to date, hampering their translation into evidence-based recommendations [9,10]. Predominantly deemed safe for use in healthy term infants, there is a consensus that more strainspecific safety data in this population group is needed, as well as evidence on longer term effects [5,8,12,13]
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