Comparison of Duration of Diarrhea Between Yogurt Versus Commercial Probiotic in Children with Acute Diarrhea

Abstract

Objective: To compare mean duration of diarrhea between yogurt versus commercial probiotic in children with acute watery diarrhea.
Methodology: This Randomized Controlled Trial, was carried out at pediatric medicine department, Recep. Tayyip Erdogan Hospital, Muzaffargarh, from October 2022 to April 2023. Children aged 6 – 59 months, both boys and girls presenting with acute watery diarrhea,  72-hours duration were enrolled. The children were randomly assigned to two groups. Group A was
receive homemade yogurt - 20mL twice a day for three days and Group B was given probiotics, one sachet twice a day for three days, along standard of care in both groups as per WHO guidelines that was include oral rehydration solutions (ORS) and oral zinc sulphate 20mg/day, recommendation for increased fluid intake and continued feeding at home and instructions on when to seek follow-up care. Children were followed up in the OPD on day 4and the frequency of stools was recorded. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 24.
Results: The mean of total number of stools per day in group A and group B children were 2.86 ± 0.81 and 1.86 ± 0.62 respectively. The mean duration of diarrhea was noted in group A and group B, 1.70 ± 0.46 days and 3.03 ± 0.55 days respectively. (p = 0.000). Categorically a higher proportion of children in Group B had up to 2 stools per day (86.7%) compared to Group A (40.0%), while more than 2 stools per day were more common in Group A (60.0%) than Group B (13.3%) (p;0.05).
Conclusion: The treatment with yogurt revealed a substantial improvement of diarrhea as compared to commercial probiotic (Lactobacillus reuteri) among children with acute watery diarrhea.