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Table 1 The characteristics of the studies

From: Early use of probiotics might prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea in elderly (>65 years): a systematic review and meta-analysis

Author, years

country

setting

Type of probiotics

Time from antibiotic to probiotic

Follow-up time

Probiotics group (n)

Placebo group (n)

AAD in Probiotics group (n)

AAD in Placebo group (n)

Lewis, 1998 [5]

England

Hospital

Saccharomyees boulardii

Within 48 h

No report

33

36

7

5

Beausoleil, 2007 [19]

Canada

Hospital

Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei.

Within 48 h

for 21 days after the last dose of antibiotic

44

45

7

16

Hickson, 2007 [20]

England

Hospital

Lactobacillus casei, S thermophilus, and L bulgaricus

Within 48 h

Antibiotics treatment plus 28days, or for 28 days from discharge

69

66

7

19

Safdar, 2008 [21]

America

Hospital

Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Within 24 h

Unspecified (probably for 14 days after the last dose of antibiotic)

23

17

4

6

Pozzoni, 2012 [2]

Italy

Hospital

S. boulardii

Within 48 h

for 12 weeks after the last dose of antibiotic

106

98

16

13

Allen, 2013 [1]

England

Hospital

Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium

Within 7days

for 8 weeks after recruitment

1470

1471

159

153

Wright, 2015 [4]

Australia

Hospital

Lactobacillus casei and Shirota strain

Within 24 h

Unspecified (probably 28 days)

41

46

5

4

C. Rajkumar, 2020 [3]

England

Hospital

L. casei DN114001, L. delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus, and S. thermophilus

Within 7days

for two weeks after the last dose of antibiotic

549

577

106

103