Comparison of different probiotics in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Acute diarrhea has a serious impact on the health and lives of children. Previous studies have shown that probiotics have positive and reliable efficacy in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children, but the efficacy of different types of probiotics varies. This study will evaluate the clinical efficacy of different kinds of probiotics in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children by means of network meta-analysis. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategy, randomized controlled studies on probiotics in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children will be searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CNQI, Wanfang, VIP, and Chinese biomedical databases. The retrieval time limit will be from the establishment of the database to January 2022. The quality level of the included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk Bias Assessment Tool and the strength of evidence for outcome measures will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development, and Evaluation method. All data analysis will be performed by Revman5.3, Gemtc 0.14.3 and Stata 14.0. RESULTS: This study will evaluate the efficacy of different kinds of probiotics in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children by evaluating diarrhea duration, stool frequency, length of hospital stay, adverse reactions, etc. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide a reliable evidence-based basis for the selection of probiotics for the treatment of acute diarrhea in children. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also does not involve endangering participant rights. Ethical approval will not be required. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated at relevant conferences. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/MNJAE.