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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 52 trials in children with constipation: no clear benefit from probiotics

Wegh and colleagues · The Journal of pediatrics · 2022

Original title: Nonpharmacologic Treatment for Children with Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

No difference

Studies showed no benefit for the use of probiotics or synbiotics. Abdominal electrical stimulation and cow's milk exclusion may be effective. Most studies had high risk of bias.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
52 studies, 4,668 people · children with long-term constipation
What was tested
Many non-drug treatments, including probiotics and synbiotics, compared with control
What it measured
The question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
The Journal of pediatrics, 2022
Source
PubMed record 34536492. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 52 studies with 4,668 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: gut symptoms such as bloating and IBS

    9

    5 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    10

    4 benefit, 2 mixed, 4 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Do probiotics improve gut health?”

Some strains may help some symptoms.

Confidence: low. Based on 28 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Other reviews on this question

See all 28 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 1 field after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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