SynthesisBMC public health2013
Systematic review of probiotics for the treatment of community-acquired acute diarrhea in children.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Probiotics in Geriatric Patients with Constipation: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2023Pooled it
- Probiotics for treating acute infectious diarrhoea.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis:Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of the effects of probiotics and synbiotics in children with acute diarrhea.Medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce post-acute consequences of diarrheal disease in children: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Positive Effect of Probiotics on Constipation in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Six Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2017Pooled it
- The Role of Probiotics in the Treatment of Dysentery: a Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Shaping of the Infant Gut Microbiome by Milk Oligosaccharides.Annual review of biochemistry · 2026Review
- Article
- Intestinal Barrier Impairment Induced by Gut Microbiome and Its Metabolites in School-Age Children with Zinc Deficiency.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Postbiotic Preparation ofAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Effects of Probiotics in Adults with Gastroenteritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Review
- Review
- Efficacy of the Probiotic Probiotical Confirmed in Acute Gastroenteritis.Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition · 2020Article
- Resistance of Gram-Positive Bacteria to Current Antibacterial Agents and Overcoming Approaches.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- The global problem of childhood diarrhoeal diseases: emerging strategies in prevention and management.Therapeutic advances in infectious disease · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOral rehydration salts (ORS), zinc, and continued feeding are the recommended treatments for community-acquired acute diarrhea among young children. However, probiotics are becoming increasingly popular treatments for diarrhea in some countries. We sought to estimate the effect of probiotics on diarrhea morbidity and mortality in children < 5 years of age.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to estimate the effect of probiotic microorganisms for the treatment of community-acquired acute diarrhea in children. Data were abstracted into a standardized table and study quality was assessed using the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) adaption of the GRADE technique. We measured the relative effect of probiotic treatment in addition to recommended rehydration on hospitalizations, duration and severity. We then calculated the average percent difference for all continuous outcomes and performed a meta-analysis for discrete outcomes.
resultsWe identified 8 studies for inclusion in the final database. No studies reported diarrhea mortality and overall the evidence was low to moderate quality. Probiotics reduced diarrhea duration by 14.0% (95% CI: 3.8-24.2%) and stool frequency on the second day of treatment by 13.1% (95% CI: 0.8 - 25.3%). There was no effect on the risk of diarrhea hospitalizations.
conclusionProbiotics may be efficacious in reducing diarrhea duration and stool frequency during a diarrhea episode. However, only few studies have been conducted in low-income countries and none used zinc (the current recommendation) thus additional research is needed to understand the effect of probiotics as adjunct therapy for diarrhea among children in developing countries.
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What 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.