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Online Information on Probiotics: Does It Match Scientific Evidence?
Marie Neunez1, Michel Goldman1, Pietro Ghezzi2
1Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Healthcare, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Frontiers in Medicine
|February 4, 2020
Summary
Online information on probiotics often lacks scientific rigor and completeness. Many commercial websites provide unreliable health claims, emphasizing the need for better quality and objectivity in public information.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Health Sciences
- Information Science
Background:
- Probiotics are widely marketed over-the-counter for health benefits.
- Online information significantly influences global probiotic perception.
- Limited clinical studies rigorously validate probiotic efficacy and safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of online probiotic information.
- To compare online recommendations with scientific evidence.
- To identify biases in web-based health claims.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 150 Google-search webpages for "probiotics" using JAMA score and HONcode certification.
- Evaluated information completeness based on references, cautionary notes, safety, and regulatory status.
- Compared online claims with Cochrane library data for scientific validation.
Main Results:
- Only 10% of evaluated webpages met all completeness criteria.
- Commercial and news websites were most frequent, with commercial sites offering less reliable data.
- A significant portion of claimed probiotic benefits lack robust scientific evidence.
Conclusions:
- Online probiotic information quality is variable and often biased.
- Commercial websites frequently present unsubstantiated health claims.
- There is a critical need to enhance the accuracy and objectivity of online health information regarding probiotics.
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