Table 1. Basic study characteristics, subjects, intervention methods, and outcome indicators of included RCTs.
| Author | Study type | Location | Age, years | Group | Number of subjects | Gender (M:F) | Intervention methods | Outcome indicators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinleyici EC 2015, (8) | Multicenter, randomized, single-blinded, case-control clinical trial | Turkey | 3–5 | E | 29 | 20:9 | (Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938) + ORS | (a)(b) |
| C | 31 | 22:9 | ORS | (a)(b) | ||||
| Maragkoudaki M 2018, (9) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | Greece | 0.5–3 | E | 28 | 21:7 | (Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938) + ORS + Zinc | |
| C | 23 | 16:5 | ORS + Zinc | |||||
| Sindhu KN 2014, (10) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | India | 0.5–5 | E | 65 | 42:23 | Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG | (a) |
| C | 59 | 34:25 | Placebo | |||||
| Lai HH 2019, (11) | Randomized, case-controlled study | Taiwan | 0.5–6 | E | 42 | 24:18 | Lactobacillus casei variety | (b) |
| C | 39 | 22:17 | Placebo | |||||
| Freedman SB 2018, (12) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | Canada | 3–6 | E | 440 | 243:197 | L. rhamnosus R0011 and L. helveticus R0052 | (a)(c) |
| C | 437 | 252:185 | Placebo | |||||
| Mourey F 2020, (13) | Multicenter, randomized, single-blinded, case-control clinical trial | India | 0.5–6 | E | 49 | 23:26 | S. boulardii CNCM I-3799 | (a)(b)(c) |
| C | 51 | 23:28 | Placebo | |||||
| Hong Chau TT 2018, (14) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | Vietnam | 0.5–5 | E | 150 | 101:49 | Lactobacillus acidophilus | (a)(d) |
| C | 150 | 98:52 | Placebo | |||||
| Dinleyici EC 2013, (15) | Single-blinded randomized study | Turkey | 0.5–10 | E | 113 | 70:43 | Synbiotic: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium | (a)(d) |
| C | 96 | 46:50 | Placebo | |||||
| Riaz M 2012, (16) | Double-blind, randomized controlled trial | India | 0.5–5 | E | 54 | 32:22 | Saccharomyces boullardi | (a) |
| C | 54 | 30:24 | Placebo | |||||
| Chen K 2020, (17) | Multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group, controlled | China | 1–3 | E | 96 | 45:51 | B. lactis Bi-07, L. rhamnosus HN001, and L. acidophilus NCFM | (a)(b)(d) |
| C | 98 | 51:47 | Placebo | |||||
| Corrêa NB 2011, (18) | Double-blind, placebo-controlled study | Brazil | 0.5–4 | E | 90 | 47:43 | S boulardii | (b) |
| C | 86 | 51:35 | Placebo | |||||
| Aggarwal SM 2014, (19) | Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial | India | 0.5–5 | E | 100 | 57:43 | Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG | (a)(b)(d) |
| C | 100 | 52:48 | Placebo |
Indicators: (a) duration of diarrhea; (b) 2-day treatment efficacy rate of diarrhea; (c) adverse events; (d) hospitalization days. RCT, randomized controlled trial; E, experiment; C, control; DSM, Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen; ORS, oral rehydration solution; GG, first letters of the surnames of the founder Sherwood Gorbach and Barry Goldin.