Mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding probiotic use during pregnancy and for their infants in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine mothers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding probiotic use during pregnancy and for infants between six months and two years old. Design: The study had a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected using a Sociodemographic Information Form and a Probiotic Information and Attitude Form. The data were evaluated using frequency, percentage and chi-square tests. Setting: Two hospitals of one province in the central Black Sea Region, Turkey. Participants: 519 mothers with infants between six months and two years old who had been hospitalized in pediatric clinics participated in the study. Results: 20.2% of the mothers knew what a probiotic was, 33.1% of them had knowledge of specific probiotic products, and 49.7% of them knew that breast milk contains probiotics. A statistically significant difference was found between mothers’knowledge of probiotics and probiotic products, and their ages, education, employment, income, family structure and whether they were actively breastfeeding(p<0.05).A statistically significant difference was found between the mothers’ knowledge that breast milk contains probiotics. and their ages, education, employment, income, family structure, age of children, and actively breastfeeding(p<0.05). Conclusion: The study found that the mothers’ knowledge and practices regarding probiotics was inadequate, and that they traditionally used natural products in their daily lives. Evidence-based educational activities should be designed which include information about the definition of probiotics, and their benefits and disadvantages for mothers. Further studies are needed to determine the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals regarding the use of probiotics by mothers with infants and pregnant women.

Investigate the relationship between the microbiota awareness in first trimester and high risk pregnancy in Turkish women: cross-sectional study

“…In another study in 2012, Cevik Guner et al [31] found that the level of education and type of occupation of mothers in Turkey were associated with the level of probiotic knowledge. Similarly, in another study conducted by Aslan et al in 2019 [37] the level of probiotic knowledge increased as the level of education increased in adults.…”

“…In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between microbiota awareness in the first trimester and the diagnosis of a high-risk pregnancy. Upon reviewing the literature, it was determined that studies evaluating microbiota/probiotic knowledge in health professionals, university students and mothers [29][30][31][32] exist, but there are no studies evaluating this knowledge in pregnant women.…”

“…In studies evaluating the level of probiotic knowledge, age has been shown to be a determining factor [29,31,[35][36][37]. Barqawi et al [38] conducted a study of individuals between the ages of 18-29 years in 2021 and Allah et al [39] pointed out that individuals aged 18-25 years had the highest level of knowledge in 2019.…”

Determination of microbiota awareness levels in women planning pregnancy

“…Finally, the study concluded that the participants had a confusion regarding general information, product information, chronic disease, and probiotic and prebiotic subdimensions, and that they could not establish the relationship between microbiota and diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, celiac disease, obesity, diabetes, and bowel cancer. Similarly, several studies have highlighted that people lack understanding about the relationship between microbiome and diseases 8 , 11 , 13 , 16 .…”

Influence of microbiota awareness in first trimester on high risk pregnancy in Turkish women: cross-sectional study

“…Probiotic knowledge levels are generally low in our country. In another study conducted on mothers in Turkey, it was found that the level of education and occupation of the mother were associated with the level of probiotic knowledge [40]. Similarly, in another study evaluating adult individuals, it was shown that the level of probiotic knowledge increased as the level of education increased [41].…”