Meta-analysisYogurt for treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea: Systematic review and meta-analysis

•Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is common in individuals treated with antibiotics.•No consistent effect of yogurt for preventing AAD was shown in this study.•Data are limited and the trials included had methodological limitations.•More high-quality evidence is needed to assess the role of yogurt in AAD prevention.

ObjectiveAntibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is a common complication in individuals treated with antibiotics. The aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the efficacy of yogurt consumption for the prevention of AAD.MethodsIn this systematic review, a number of databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, with no language restrictions, were searched up to September 2014 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of yogurt consumption in adults and children who were receiving antibiotics. The risk for bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.ResultsTwo RCTs, both low in methodological quality, were included. Compared with no intervention, yogurt consumption reduced the risk for diarrhea in the fixed effect model (two RCTs, n = 314, relative risk [RR], 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.31-1.00). Significant heterogeneity between the trials was detected (I2 = 67%). The significant reduction in the risk for diarrhea was lost in the random effects model (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.11-1.75).ConclusionsGiven the simple nature of the intervention, the scarcity of data is noteworthy. No consistent effect of yogurt consumption for preventing AAD was shown. However, the data are limited and the included trials had methodological limitations. Results from large, rigorously designed RCTs are needed to assess the effect of yogurt consumption on AAD prevention.