Title : Oral and vaginal probiotic use as adjunctive therapy or preventative measure for vulvovaginal candidiasis: A systematic review
Abstract:
Background: Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC) affects the majority of people with vaginas at least once in their lifetime. Recurrent VVC (RVVC) is a big concern due to anti-fungal resistance. Alternative or adjunctive treatments need to be assessed.
Objectives: The objective of this review is to learn if probiotics can be an alternative or adjunctive treatment for preventing, curing, or improving recovery time of vaginal yeast infections.
Methods: Methods were based on the Navigation Guide’s and fitted to this research question. Covidence was used to screen and extract data. 756 articles were screened and 18 were selected for data extraction. Articles were assessed for bias using the Navigation Guide’s criteria.
Results: Half of the articles showed an association between probiotic use and recurrence of VVC or efficacy as adjunctive therapy. Half of the articles did not find an association. The overall quality and strength of the evidence was low.
Discussion and Conclusion: Though the reviewed articles are suggestive of a possible association, the quality of the evidence is low and there are inconsistent results. Based on the state of the evidence there is not enough information to claim that probiotics are effective as an alternative or adjunctive treatment for VVC. Well-designed randomized control trails with standardized methodology, large sample sizes, and long follow-up are needed.
Audience Take Away:
- Possible alternative treatments for vaginal yeast infections
- Future research to conducted in the field of the vaginal microbiome
