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TerminatedNCT02817165PAIDUpdated Apr 18, 2018

Probiotics for the Prevention of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea

An interventional study of Probiotic (BioK+) and Placebo in Acute Diarrhea, sponsored by The Hospital for Sick Children. Terminated at 2 sites in Canada. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 17 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-04-18.

Sponsored by The Hospital for Sick Children · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Why this study was terminated
Slow recruitment
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
16
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
1 Year to 17 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

In North America, one of the most common reasons for hospitalization in previously healthy children is for the treatment of infections with antibiotics. This study will determine if, in previously healthy children hospitalized and prescribed intravenous (IV) antibiotics, the co-administration of a probiotic milk product containing good bacteria, is safe and effective for reducing AAD, as compared to a placebo (identical appearing milk product). This will be a two-center, randomized, masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The results of this study will help inform clinicians and families on the use of probiotics in the prevention of AAD, a common side effect of antibiotic use among hospitalized children.

Read the detailed description

A two-centred randomized, multi-blind (i.e. patients, caregivers, data collectors, outcome assessors, data managers and analysts), placebo-controlled clinical trial intended to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Bio-K+ (Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lactobacillus casei LBC80R and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CLR2) in the prevention of AAD in hospitalized children 1 year to 17 years of age administered IV antibiotics.

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Conditions studied

  • Acute Diarrhea

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Keywords

  • Probiotics, diarrhea, antibiotic, children, hospital
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In context

Diarrhea

852 studies on the registry are indexed under Diarrhea; 78 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 16 is below the median of 136 across 713 interventional studies indexed under Diarrhea.

Browse Diarrhea studies →

Lead sponsor

The Hospital for Sick Children is the lead sponsor of 568 studies on the registry; 81 are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
1 Year to 17 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Participants will be children aged 1 year to 17 years admitted to the General Pediatric inpatient unit at The Hospital for Sick Children (Site 1) or McMaster Children's Hospital (Site 2).
  2. Participants will be prescribed IV antibiotics with a planned duration of 1 or more days, and a total course of both IV and oral antibiotics, if applicable, of no more than 28 days.
  3. Parent (if parent-report) or patient (if patient-report) is able to communicate in English (read, write, speak).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Parental or patient (e.g. child > 12 years old) report of current diarrhea, diarrhea within the last week.
  2. Lactose intolerance.
  3. Allergies to strawberry, dried citrus pulp, or any other components of the study product.
  4. Immuno-compromised patients or those on immunosuppressive agents (e.g. heart or kidney transplant, complex care, sickle cell disease, chemotherapy agents, oral prednisone).
  5. Patients with known or potentially compromised gut integrity (e.g. short gut, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Celiac disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, nasogastric, nasojejunal or gastrostomy tube).
  6. Children with serious and/or unstable medical conditions (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular, renal, lung, psychiatric illness, bleeding disorders, etc.).
  7. Children admitted to a medical or surgical subspecialty unit.
  8. Patients enrolled in another study.
  9. Patients previously randomized to this study.
  10. Patient is pregnant.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
16 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Probiotic (BioK+)

    Children will receive 10-40 billion CFUs/day of Bio-K+ (Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lactobacillus casei LBC80R and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CLR2), with dose based on their weight. The product will be administered as a strawberry flavored tub of milk.

    Dietary Supplement: Probiotic (BioK+)

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Strawberry flavored tub of milk, identical (taste, color, odor) to the active Bio-K+ treatment.

    Other: Placebo

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementProbiotic (BioK+)

    Probiotic (BioK+) with 3 stains of Lactobacillus

  • OtherPlacebo

    Strawberry flavored tub of milk, identical (taste, color, odor) to the active Bio-K+ treatment.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD)

    The investigators will employ a questionnaire addressing Pediatric Acute Diarrhea (qPAD), a measure of diarrhea involving the assessment of stool frequency and consistency for each bowel movement. To measure consistency, the qPAD contains a stool consistency classification system. Our registered sample size is based on pilot data from The Hospital for Sick Children indicating that the incidence of AAD is 33% (95% CI 23% to 43%) according to the qPAD. Given an estimated baseline AAD risk of 32.9% and a 48% relative risk reduction in AAD (Johnston et al, Cochrane Library, 2011), a randomized trial with 80% power and a 2-sided alpha of 0.05 comparing Bio-K+ with placebo would require a total sample size of 118 patients per group (236 total).

    Time frame: 2 weeks after antibiotic + probiotic completion

  2. Incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), global impression

    Given that parents have knowledge of the child's typical bowel movements per day, the investigators will also employ a Global Rating Scale for diarrhea (GRSd), using a 0 to 4 scale (0 = no diarrhea, 1 = mild diarrhea, 2 = moderate diarrhea, 3 = severe diarrhea, 4 = worse imaginable diarrhea). The investigators will ask participants to select values based on diarrhea severity, which is a combination of stool frequency and consistency over 24 hours. Our registered sample size is based on the incidence of AAD (33%; 95% CI 23% to 43%) according to the qPAD. However, the incidence of AAD according to GRSd is 23%, which corresponds to the lower bound of the 95% CI for the qPAD. The investigators are currently applying for additional peer-reviewed funds. If these funds are obtained the investigators will power the trial based GRSd, a more conservative AAD incidence (23%). The investigators will also power the trial for a smaller treatment effect (39% relative risk reduction).

    Time frame: 2 weeks after antibiotic + probiotic completion

Secondary outcomes

  1. Severity of AAD

    The investigators will assess severity using the qPAD and the investigators will employ definitions for diarrhea from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, modified for use in children, defined as: severe: ≥6 loose/unformed/liquid stools; moderate: ≥3 loose/unformed/liquid stools; mild: a change in stooling pattern to 1-2 loose/unformed/liquid stools daily (Gravel 2007). The investigators will classify severity according to the 24-hour period with the highest degree of severity.

    Time frame: 2 weeks after antibiotic completion

  2. Adverse events

    Incidence of mild (e.g. self-resolving), moderate (e.g. those that warrant medical evaluation) and serious (e.g. those that warrant continued hospitalization) adverse events based on criteria adopted by the National Institute of Health common terminology criteria for adverse events (NIH severity) will be evaluated.

    Time frame: 2 weeks after antibiotic completion

  3. Duration of AAD

    The investigators will measure duration of AAD using a definition of diarrhea resolution (diarrhea offset) developed based on a systematic review of 138 trials of Pediatric Acute Diarrhea, and Delphi consensus with a panel of experts in pediatrics, clinical gastroenterology and measurement (Johnston BC et al. Pediatrics 2010; Jul;126(1):e222-31; Johnston BC et al. Symposium Probio, Quebec City, Canada, 2015). For children up to 17 years of age, acute diarrhea typically lasts less than 7 days and not longer than 14 days and resolution is marked by 1. production of 2 consecutive normal stools (i.e. "soft and formed" or "hard and formed") stool or; 2. production of one normal stool followed by 12 hours with no stool production or; 3. normal stool production (or no stool production) for a period of 24 hours.

    Time frame: 2 weeks after antibiotic completion

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Study locations

2 sites
  • McMaster Children's Hospital
    Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada
  • The Hospital for Sick Children
    Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Johnston BC, Shamseer L, da Costa BR, Tsuyuki RT, Vohra S. Measurement issues in trials of pediatric acute diarrheal diseases: a systematic review. Pediatrics. 2010 Jul;126(1):e222-31. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-3667. Epub 2010 Jun 21. PubMed 20566617 ↗
  • Johnston B, Pirrello D, Lytvyn L, Mahant S, Sherman P, Ship N, Parkin P. Prospective cohort study of antibiotic-associated diarrhea among hospitalized children. Symposium Probio, Quebec City, Canada. (October 29, 2015).
  • Goldenberg JZ, Lytvyn L, Steurich J, Parkin P, Mahant S, Johnston BC. Probiotics for the prevention of pediatric antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Dec 22;(12):CD004827. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004827.pub4. PubMed 26695080 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — To be determined.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 18, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02817165
Lead sponsor
The Hospital for Sick Children
Collaborators
McMaster University
Responsible party
Patricia Parkin (Research Director, Senior Associate Scientist and Professor, The Hospital for Sick Children) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 29, 2016
Start date
Nov 2016
Primary completion
Oct 2017
Completion
Jan 2018
Last update
Apr 18, 2018

Study contacts

Patricia Parkin, MD
principal investigator · The Hospital for Sick Children
Gordon Guyatt, MD
study chair · McMaster University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Apr 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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