Probiotics to Alleviate the Onset of Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea
Disciplines
Alternative and Complementary Medicine | Food Microbiology | Nursing
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Background: Research has shown the success of prophylactic administration of probiotics in the prevention of symptoms of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (ADD). The use of probiotics has been widely adopted in nursing practice, but evidence-based data concerning probiotic effectiveness was needed to justify the intervention.
Objectives: To review the current literature used to establish probiotic efficacy in clinical and scientific settings and determine if there is sufficient evidence to justify the nurse’s clinical use of probiotics to alleviate the onset of antibiotic associated diarrhea.
Methods: A literature search conducted used combined keywords in six English databases of peer reviewed publications covering the dates from 2013 to 2021. Nine articles were reviewed. The information concerning the testing, experimentation, implementation, and outcome has been synthesized and summarized.
Results: Moderately positive results came from the use of probiotics. However, due to the many different strains of probiotics, rigorous standard tests are not structured well enough for researchers to overcome the barrier of probiotic strain specificity to every antibiotic treatment .
Conclusions: Overall, results point to the beneficial use of probiotics against ADD, but more definitive and organized studies are needed to support current data. Current evidence is strong enough to support prevention of AAD with prophylactic probiotics and can be considered effective and safe for continued clinical use.
Keywords: ADD, antibiotics, clinical studies, literature review, probiotics, systematic review
Academic department under which the project should be listed
WCHHS - Nursing
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Mary Frances D. Pate
Probiotics to Alleviate the Onset of Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea
Background: Research has shown the success of prophylactic administration of probiotics in the prevention of symptoms of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (ADD). The use of probiotics has been widely adopted in nursing practice, but evidence-based data concerning probiotic effectiveness was needed to justify the intervention.
Objectives: To review the current literature used to establish probiotic efficacy in clinical and scientific settings and determine if there is sufficient evidence to justify the nurse’s clinical use of probiotics to alleviate the onset of antibiotic associated diarrhea.
Methods: A literature search conducted used combined keywords in six English databases of peer reviewed publications covering the dates from 2013 to 2021. Nine articles were reviewed. The information concerning the testing, experimentation, implementation, and outcome has been synthesized and summarized.
Results: Moderately positive results came from the use of probiotics. However, due to the many different strains of probiotics, rigorous standard tests are not structured well enough for researchers to overcome the barrier of probiotic strain specificity to every antibiotic treatment .
Conclusions: Overall, results point to the beneficial use of probiotics against ADD, but more definitive and organized studies are needed to support current data. Current evidence is strong enough to support prevention of AAD with prophylactic probiotics and can be considered effective and safe for continued clinical use.
Keywords: ADD, antibiotics, clinical studies, literature review, probiotics, systematic review