Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Family and Consumer Sciences

First Advisor

Sarah T. Hawkins

Second Advisor

Lynn Duerr

Third Advisor

Rao Ivaturi

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of Lactobacillus casei in preventing the occurrence of antibiotic associated diarrhea related to Clostridium difficile. Twenty-six patients, above the age of sixty years, who were prescribed antibiotic therapy and admitted to the Rehabilitation or Orthopedics Units at Union Hospital and who met the eligibility criteria were recruited for the study. Equal numbers of patients (13 in each group) were assigned to the Control and the Experimental group based on their admission date to the hospital and their willingness to consume a probiotic yogurt type drink. The patients in the experimental group were given 3.3 oz of a pro biotic drink (DanActive ), twice a day for a period of fourteen days. Patients assigned to the control group did not receive any probiotic supplements. All patients were asked to complete a prescreening questionnaire to check their eligibility for the study and were then given a follow-up and post study questionnaire to check their compliance with the study protocol. If patients were discharged prior to the fourteen day trial period, they were given a supply ofDanActive to complete the study at horne and were followed up through phone calls to check their compliance with the study and incidence of diarrheal episodes. There was no significant difference in the age of the patients in the control and experimental groups. Eighty-five percent of patients in each group were given oral antibiotics and the rest were administered antibiotics intravenously. Seventy percent of them were receiving Quinalones; other antibiotics were Cephalosporins and Penicillins. The control group reported significantly lower previous use of yogurt and many were unwilling to try the pro biotic drink. Eighty three percent of the patients in the experimental group reported "always" consuming the supplement drink provided to them during the study. As none of the patients in either group developed antibiotic associated diarrhea related to Clostridium difficile, more studies are needed with large number of subjects who are followed for a longer period of time.

Download

Share

COinS