The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study

Abstract The probiotic food consumption and microbiota awareness of healthcare professionals play a significant role in both their own health and public health. This is particularly noteworthy due to its effects on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and general health. The aim of this study was to exami...

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Main Authors: Sultan Cemiloğlu, Hacı Ömer Yılmaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-06-01
Series:Discover Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00732-1
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author Sultan Cemiloğlu
Hacı Ömer Yılmaz
author_facet Sultan Cemiloğlu
Hacı Ömer Yılmaz
author_sort Sultan Cemiloğlu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The probiotic food consumption and microbiota awareness of healthcare professionals play a significant role in both their own health and public health. This is particularly noteworthy due to its effects on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and general health. The aim of this study was to examine the probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and GI symptoms of healthcare professionals. The study was conducted with 305 healthcare professionals. An exploratory, analytical and cross-sectional design with a purposive sampling technique was used in the study. The data were collected through a questionnaire using a face-to-face method. The questionnaire consists of socio-demographic characteristics, probiotic food questionnaire, Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and Microbiota Awareness Scale (MAS). It was determined that the majority of healthcare professionals knew the term probiotic (86.2%) and obtained information about probiotic foods mostly from the internet (20.7%), pharmacy and sales points (20%) and experts (18.8%). With increasing frequency of probiotic food consumption of participants, it was determined that the MAS score increased (r = 0.246, p < 0.001), the GSRS score (r = − 0.119, p < 0.05) and the GSRS-abdominal pain score (r = − 0.184, p < 0.001) decreased. Healthcare professionals’ awareness of microbiota was found to be associated with probiotic food consumption and GI system symptoms. More comprehensive, experimental and long-term studies are needed for occupational health of health professionals.
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spelling doaj-art-7933e2703a5949eca45f2337cc6d5f0d2025-08-20T03:20:59ZengSpringerDiscover Public Health3005-07742025-06-0122111410.1186/s12982-025-00732-1The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional studySultan Cemiloğlu0Hacı Ömer Yılmaz1Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Uskudar UniversityFaculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul UniversityAbstract The probiotic food consumption and microbiota awareness of healthcare professionals play a significant role in both their own health and public health. This is particularly noteworthy due to its effects on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and general health. The aim of this study was to examine the probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and GI symptoms of healthcare professionals. The study was conducted with 305 healthcare professionals. An exploratory, analytical and cross-sectional design with a purposive sampling technique was used in the study. The data were collected through a questionnaire using a face-to-face method. The questionnaire consists of socio-demographic characteristics, probiotic food questionnaire, Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and Microbiota Awareness Scale (MAS). It was determined that the majority of healthcare professionals knew the term probiotic (86.2%) and obtained information about probiotic foods mostly from the internet (20.7%), pharmacy and sales points (20%) and experts (18.8%). With increasing frequency of probiotic food consumption of participants, it was determined that the MAS score increased (r = 0.246, p < 0.001), the GSRS score (r = − 0.119, p < 0.05) and the GSRS-abdominal pain score (r = − 0.184, p < 0.001) decreased. Healthcare professionals’ awareness of microbiota was found to be associated with probiotic food consumption and GI system symptoms. More comprehensive, experimental and long-term studies are needed for occupational health of health professionals.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00732-1Healthcare professionalsMicrobiota awarenessGastrointestinal symptomsPublic healthProbiotics
spellingShingle Sultan Cemiloğlu
Hacı Ömer Yılmaz
The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
Discover Public Health
Healthcare professionals
Microbiota awareness
Gastrointestinal symptoms
Public health
Probiotics
title The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
title_full The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
title_fullStr The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
title_short The association between probiotic food consumption, microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
title_sort association between probiotic food consumption microbiota awareness and gastrointestinal symptoms among healthcare professionals a cross sectional study
topic Healthcare professionals
Microbiota awareness
Gastrointestinal symptoms
Public health
Probiotics
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00732-1
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