ArticleFrontiers in medicine2019
Online Information on Probiotics: Does It Match Scientific Evidence?
Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Quality and accuracy of online nutrition-related information: a systematic review of content analysis studies.Public health nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- May nutrients and dietary supplements influence the gut-lung microbiota axis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and exacerbations?Archives of medical science : AMS · 2026Article
- Determinants of complementary and integrative medicine use in inflammatory bowel disease: a focus on probiotics, prebiotics, and fermentable dietary fibres.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Online information on medical cannabis is not always aligned with scientific evidence and may raise unrealistic expectations.Journal of cannabis research · 2022Article
- Supranational Assessment of the Quality of Probiotics: Collaborative Initiative between Independent Accredited Testing Laboratories.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017.PloS one · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Probiotics are over-the-counter products marketed for enhancing human health. Online information has been key in promoting probiotics worldwide. However, only few rigorous clinical studies have met the stringent criteria required to establish the efficacy and safety of probiotics. The present study was undertaken to assess the information quality of webpages referring to probiotics and to compare the recommendations available online with the information collected from trusted scientific sources. We evaluated 150 webpages returned by Google searching "probiotics" in terms of typology of website, health information quality based on the JAMA score and the HONcode certification, as well as completeness of the information based on the presence of four criteria: (1) links to scientific references supporting health claims, (2) cautionary notes about level of evidence for alleged benefits, (3) safety considerations, and (4) regulatory status. We then enumerated the health claims mentioned online and the corresponding clinical trials and reviews registered in the Cochrane library. Finally, the conclusions of Cochrane reviews were used to assess the level of scientific evidence of the information available through Google search. HON-certified websites were significantly more frequent in the top 10 websites than in the remaining websites. In terms of completeness of information, only 10% of webpages met all four criteria, 40% had a cautionary note on benefits, 35% referred to scientific literature, and only 25% mentioned potential side effects. The results of the content analysis led us to conclude that: (1) the most frequent typologies of webpages returned by Google are commercial and news, (2) commercial websites on average provide the least reliable information, and (3) significant numbers of claimed benefits of probiotics are not supported by scientific evidence. This study highlights important biases in the probiotics information available online, underlining the need to improve the quality and objectivity of information provided to the public.
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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.