Evidence mapPaperPMID 35927504Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2022

The effect of multistrain probiotics on functional constipation in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial.

Katarina Fehir Šola, Sanda Vladimir-Knežević, Pero Hrabač, Iva Mucalo, Luciano Saso, Donatella Verbanac

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06619067 (Efficacy Study of the Probiotic Food Supplement PROBAFLOR for Maintaining Intestinal Well-being), which is not on this map. Cited by 20 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06619067 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Efficacy Study of the Probiotic Food Supplement PROBAFLOR for Maintaining Intestinal Well-being: Single-centre, Controlled, Randomized, Parallel Group, Double-blind Clinical Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorSynbiotec SrlRan2024 to 2025Enrolled60ConditionsGut, Microbiota BalanceArmsPROBAFLOR, Placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Smart CaCOScientific reports · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Probiotics and prebiotics in the treatment of functional constipation in the elderly individuals.World journal of gastrointestinal pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025
    Review
  8. Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Katarina Fehir ŠolaCommunity Pharmacy Bjelovar, Bjelovar, Croatia. kfsola@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3213-6733
Sanda Vladimir-KneževićUniversity of Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Zagreb, Croatia.
Pero HrabačAndrija Stampar School of Public Health, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
Iva MucaloUniversity of Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Zagreb, Croatia.
Luciano SasoDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Donatella VerbanacUniversity of Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Zagreb, Croatia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9106-1604
University of Zagreb · HRCroatian Academic and Research Network · HRSapienza University of Rome · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesConstipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal conditions, particularly among older individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of selected multistrain probiotics on functional constipation and laboratory blood parameters in the elderly living in a nursing home. SUBJECTS AND

methodsSixty participants (42 females and 18 males) aged 77.9 ± 8.84 years with functional constipation, who met the eligibility criteria, completed the study. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel design, each participant was randomized to receive either the selected probiotic mixture (N = 28) or placebo (N = 32) for 12 weeks as an adjunct to their usual diet and medications. The liquid probiotic formulation containing Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BLC1, Lactobacillus acidophilus LA3 and Lactobacillus casei BGP93 was tested for the first time.

resultsSupplementation of selected probiotics resulted in a slight but nonsignificant increase in cumulative stool frequency compared with placebo. However, after the 71st day of the treatment, the cumulative number of stools was significantly higher in the probiotic group (P < 0.05) when the influence of laxative was excluded. The trend towards an increase in the difference between the two groups, which began 1 week after the probiotic intervention, pointed out to their prolonged effect. There were no significant dependent or independent effects of treatment and time on most of the 27 laboratory blood parameters tested.

conclusionsMultistrain probiotic supplementation was found to be efficacious, safe and well tolerated in the elderly with functional constipation.

Indexed as

Bifidobacterium animalisProbioticsAgedConstipationDouble-Blind MethodFecesFemaleHumansLactobacillus acidophilusMale

Identifiers

PMID35927504
PMCPMC9708599
OpenAlexW4289780851

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.