Probiotics and urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women: a systematic review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 PhD Student of Reproductive Health, Midwifery and Reproductive Health Research Center, Students Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 M.Sc. in Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Midwifery and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

10.22038/ijogi.2024.77426.6081

Abstract

Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common disease and extensive studies have been done on the effect of probiotics on the control and treatment of UTIs. This review study was performed with aim to explore the effect of probiotics on UTIs in postmenopausal women.
Methods: In order to find the relevant papers written in 2000 to 2022, international databases of Web of Science Embase، Scopus، Google Scholar, PubMed and national databases of Irandoc، Magiran، SID، IranMedex were investigated with different combinations of keywords related to "Urinary tract infection" and "Probiotic". Selection of papers was done based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and the quality of papers was assessed using Verhagen scale.
Results: Finally, five papers with the total sample size of 419 subjects were investigated. Most of the studies were in English and all of them were RCT. According to most studies, probiotics do not have a preventive role in the occurrence of urinary infections in postmenopausal women. However, probiotics alongside antibiotic compounds can be used to treat UTIs in postmenopausal women.
Conclusion: Despite the inconsistent results, most studies have shown that probiotics do not play a role in urinary infections in postmenopausal women. Differences in the amount and number of daily consumption as well as type and number of probiotic strains used have led to different results. In this regard, it is suggested to conduct extensive studies to explore the role of probiotics on post-menopausal women’s UTI.

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