Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective

Georgia Parry; David Tuthill

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective

Georgia Parry, David Tuthill

Published in American Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 4 January 2021 Accepted: 3 March 2021 Published: 17 March 2021

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Abstract

The aim of this project was to evaluate parental knowledge and opinions on the use of probiotics in children, specifically comparing those attending an allergy or gastroenterology clinic with parents of other paediatric patients. A survey containing nine items was administered to a convenience sample of parents in the inpatient and outpatient departments at the Children’s Hospital for Wales. The questions were asked face to face by one observer; answers were recorded anonymously on a tablet computer using the online survey tool KwikSurveys. A total of 304 parents completed the survey. Overall, 53.9% of parents knew what probiotics were, 75.3% thought that they could improve a child’s health and 53.6% had given their child probiotics. In the cohort attending allergy or gastroenterology clinics, 64.2% had given their child probiotics, compared with 50.2% of the remaining participants (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.01, 3.12). Healthcare professionals were 13% more likely to recommend the use of a probiotic to a parent in this cohort. In conclusion, awareness and knowledge of probiotics was reasonable among parents, and most thought that they could improve a child’s health. Parents were more likely to give their child probiotics if they attended an allergy or gastroenterology clinic.

Published in	American Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17
Page(s)	28-33
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Probiotics, Allergy, Gastroenterology

References

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APA Style

Georgia Parry, David Tuthill. (2021). Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. American Journal of Pediatrics, 7(1), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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ACS Style

Georgia Parry; David Tuthill. Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. Am. J. Pediatr. 2021, 7(1), 28-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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AMA Style

Georgia Parry, David Tuthill. Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. Am J Pediatr. 2021;7(1):28-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17,
  author = {Georgia Parry and David Tuthill},
  title = {Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective},
  journal = {American Journal of Pediatrics},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {28-33},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajp.20210701.17},
  abstract = {The aim of this project was to evaluate parental knowledge and opinions on the use of probiotics in children, specifically comparing those attending an allergy or gastroenterology clinic with parents of other paediatric patients. A survey containing nine items was administered to a convenience sample of parents in the inpatient and outpatient departments at the Children’s Hospital for Wales. The questions were asked face to face by one observer; answers were recorded anonymously on a tablet computer using the online survey tool KwikSurveys. A total of 304 parents completed the survey. Overall, 53.9% of parents knew what probiotics were, 75.3% thought that they could improve a child’s health and 53.6% had given their child probiotics. In the cohort attending allergy or gastroenterology clinics, 64.2% had given their child probiotics, compared with 50.2% of the remaining participants (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.01, 3.12). Healthcare professionals were 13% more likely to recommend the use of a probiotic to a parent in this cohort. In conclusion, awareness and knowledge of probiotics was reasonable among parents, and most thought that they could improve a child’s health. Parents were more likely to give their child probiotics if they attended an allergy or gastroenterology clinic.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective
AU - Georgia Parry
AU - David Tuthill
Y1 - 2021/03/17
PY - 2021
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17
DO - 10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17
T2 - American Journal of Pediatrics
JF - American Journal of Pediatrics
JO - American Journal of Pediatrics
SP - 28
EP - 33
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2472-0909
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17
AB - The aim of this project was to evaluate parental knowledge and opinions on the use of probiotics in children, specifically comparing those attending an allergy or gastroenterology clinic with parents of other paediatric patients. A survey containing nine items was administered to a convenience sample of parents in the inpatient and outpatient departments at the Children’s Hospital for Wales. The questions were asked face to face by one observer; answers were recorded anonymously on a tablet computer using the online survey tool KwikSurveys. A total of 304 parents completed the survey. Overall, 53.9% of parents knew what probiotics were, 75.3% thought that they could improve a child’s health and 53.6% had given their child probiotics. In the cohort attending allergy or gastroenterology clinics, 64.2% had given their child probiotics, compared with 50.2% of the remaining participants (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.01, 3.12). Healthcare professionals were 13% more likely to recommend the use of a probiotic to a parent in this cohort. In conclusion, awareness and knowledge of probiotics was reasonable among parents, and most thought that they could improve a child’s health. Parents were more likely to give their child probiotics if they attended an allergy or gastroenterology clinic.
VL - 7
IS - 1
ER -

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Author Information

Georgia Parry

School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
David Tuthill

Children’s Hospital for Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK

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Georgia Parry, David Tuthill. (2021). Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. American Journal of Pediatrics, 7(1), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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ACS Style

Georgia Parry; David Tuthill. Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. Am. J. Pediatr. 2021, 7(1), 28-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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AMA Style

Georgia Parry, David Tuthill. Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective. Am J Pediatr. 2021;7(1):28-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17,
  author = {Georgia Parry and David Tuthill},
  title = {Probiotics: Popping the Prevalence and Parental Perspective},
  journal = {American Journal of Pediatrics},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {28-33},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20210701.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajp.20210701.17},
  abstract = {The aim of this project was to evaluate parental knowledge and opinions on the use of probiotics in children, specifically comparing those attending an allergy or gastroenterology clinic with parents of other paediatric patients. A survey containing nine items was administered to a convenience sample of parents in the inpatient and outpatient departments at the Children’s Hospital for Wales. The questions were asked face to face by one observer; answers were recorded anonymously on a tablet computer using the online survey tool KwikSurveys. A total of 304 parents completed the survey. Overall, 53.9% of parents knew what probiotics were, 75.3% thought that they could improve a child’s health and 53.6% had given their child probiotics. In the cohort attending allergy or gastroenterology clinics, 64.2% had given their child probiotics, compared with 50.2% of the remaining participants (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.01, 3.12). Healthcare professionals were 13% more likely to recommend the use of a probiotic to a parent in this cohort. In conclusion, awareness and knowledge of probiotics was reasonable among parents, and most thought that they could improve a child’s health. Parents were more likely to give their child probiotics if they attended an allergy or gastroenterology clinic.},
 year = {2021}
}

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