SynthesisDigestive diseases and sciences2002
Efficacy of probiotic use in acute diarrhea in children: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Digestive diseases and sciences, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Probiotics for pediatric diarrhea and constipation: an umbrella meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of probiotics on the diarrhea and constipation outcomes in children: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotics for the prevention or treatment of chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-related diarrhoea in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- The use of probiotics in pediatric gastroenterology: a review of the literature and recommendations by Latin-American experts.Paediatric drugs · 2015Pooled it
- Gastroenteritis Therapies in Developed Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Modulation of immunity and inflammatory gene expression in the gut, in inflammatory diseases of the gut and in the liver by probiotics.World journal of gastroenterology · 2014Pooled it
- Probiotics for treating persistent diarrhoea in children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Trial
- A prospective, interventional, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Bacillus coagulans LBSC in the treatment of acute diarrhea with abdominal discomfort.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Trial
- Influence of a probiotic Lactobacillus casei strain on the colonisation with potential pathogenic streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus in the nasopharyngeal space of healthy men with a low baseline NK cell activity.Medical microbiology and immunology · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- The effect of Lactobacillus GG on acute diarrheal illness in the pediatric emergency department.Pediatric emergency care · 2012Trial
- Efficacy and safety of Saccharomyces boulardii in acute childhood diarrhea: a double blind randomised controlled trial.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2012Trial
- Trial
- A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized human study assessing the capacity of a novel galacto-oligosaccharide mixture in reducing travellers' diarrhoea.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2010Trial
- Lactobacillus supplementation for diarrhoea related to chemotherapy of colorectal cancer: a randomised study.British journal of cancer · 2007Trial
- Probiotics for treatment of acute diarrhoea in children: randomised clinical trial of five different preparations.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2007Trial
- Efficacy of tyndalized Lactobacillus acidophilus in acute diarrhea.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2005Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Our objective was to determine the efficacy of probiotic use in reducing the duration of increased stool output in children with acute diarrheal illness. Eligible studies were limited to trials of probiotic therapy in otherwise healthy children <5 years old with acute-onset diarrhea. The main outcome variable was difference in diarrhea duration between treatment and control groups. Our meta-analysis of 18 eligible studies suggests that coadministration of probiotics with standard rehydration therapy reduces the duration of acute diarrhea by approximately 1 day [random-effects pooled estimate = -0.8 days (-1.1, -0.6), P < 0.001]. Differences in treatment effect between studies was assessed by calculating the Q statistic (Q = 204. 1, P < 0.001). In subsequent analyses limited to studies of hospitalized children, to double-blinded trials, and to studies evaluating lactobacilli, the pooled estimates were similar (-0.6 to -1.2 days, P < 0.001). In conclusion, bacterial probiotic therapy shortens the duration of acute diarrheal illness in children by approximately one day.
Indexed as
Identifiers
12452406What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.