Table 3.
Overview of students’ experience with probiotic use
| Total | Field of study | Year of study | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | Medicine n (%) |
Pharmacy N (%) |
First n (%) |
Final n (%) |
|
| I have used probiotics during my lifetime: | |||||
| Never | 7 (2.7%) | 4 (2.7%) | 3 (2.6%) | 4 (3.4%) | 3 (2.1%) |
| Once | 5 (1.9%) | 2 (1.4%) | 3 (2.6%) | 1 (0.9%) | 4 (2.7%) |
| Two times | 13 (4.9%) | 9 (6.2%) | 4 (3.4%) | 8 (6.8%) | 5 (3.4%) |
| More than two times | 238 (90.5%) | 131 (89.7%) | 107 (91.5%) | 104 (88.9%) | 134 (91.8%) |
| Total | 263 (100%) | 146 (55.5%) | 117 (44.5%) | 117 (44.5%) | 146 (55.5%) |
| *I made the decision to use probiotics: | |||||
| Based on a doctor’s recommendation | 133 (52%) | 69 (48.6%) | 64 (56.1%) | 61 (54%) | 72 (50.3%) |
| Based on a pharmacist’s recommendation at the pharmacy | 48 (18.8%) | 38 (26.8%) | 10 (8.8%) | 21 (18.6%) | 27 (18.9%) |
| Self-initiated | 74 (28.9%) | 34 (23.9%) | 40 (35.1%) | 31 (27.4%) | 43 (30.1%) |
| Other | 1 (0.4%) | 1 (0.7%) | - | - | 1 (0.7%) |
| *I have taken probiotics: | |||||
| Before meal | 86 (33.6%) | 56 (39.4%) | 30 (26.3%) | 40 (35.4%) | 46 (32.2%) |
| After meal | 53 (20.7%) | 22 (15.5%) | 31 (27.2%) | 21 (18.6%) | 32 (22.4%) |
| During meal | 10 (3.9%) | 4 (2.8%) | 6 (5.3%) | 4 (3.5%) | 6 (4.2%) |
| I did not pay attention | 107 (41.8%) | 60 (42.3%) | 47 (41.2%) | 48 (42.5%) | 59 (41.3%) |
| *While I was taking antibiotics: | |||||
| I took probiotics at different time from the antibiotic | 186 (72.7%) | 109 (76.8%) | 77 (67.5%) | 86 (76.1%) | 100 (69.9%) |
| I took probiotics at the same time as the antibiotic | 24 (9.4%) | 12 (8.5%) | 12 (10.5%) | 11 (9.7%) | 13 (9.1%) |
| I didn’t pay attention to the time of administration | 27 (10.5%) | 12 (8.5%) | 15 (13.2%) | 11 (9.7%) | 16 (11.2%) |
| I haven’t taken probiotics with antibiotics, only independently | 19 (7.4%) | 9 (6.3%) | 10 (8.8%) | 5 (4.4%) | 14 (9.8%) |
| I have never taken antibiotics | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| *I didn’t use probiotics while taking other medications (other than antibiotics): | |||||
| True | 51 (19.9%) | 23 (16.2%) | 28 (24.6%) | 22 (19.5%) | 29 (20.3%) |
| False | 127 (49.6%) | 73 (51.4%) | 54 (47.4%) | 55 (48.7%) | 72 (50.3%) |
| I am not sure | 78 (30.5%) | 46 (32.4%) | 32 (28.1%) | 36 (31.9%) | 42 (29.4%) |
| Total | 256 (100%) | 142 (55.5%) | 114 (44.5%) | 113 (44.1%) | 143 (55.9%) |
* The questions were answered only by students who declared that they had used probiotics at some point in their lives