Analysis of the prescription of probiotics by nutritionists in the treatment of cancer patients

Abstract

The study of cancer, its causes and treatments, is gaining more and more relevance in the scientific community, becoming the second cause of death in the world. Thus, research has been carried out to understand and describe the use of probiotics in this therapy, as they have been shown to be beneficial in association with treatment, although it is not completely clear how the implementation has been done. The aim of this study was to analyze the prescription of probiotics given by nutritionists to cancer patients, seeking to understand the implications of their practical application. This is a non-experimental, exploratory, and descriptive study with a quantitative approach, with a non-probabilistic sample, for convenience and spontaneous adherence, with the target audience being nutritionists specializing in oncology. It obeyed the following steps: 1) elaboration of a questionnaire through the Google Forms® platform; 2) capture of participants individually via the internet (WhatsApp, e-mail, etc.) according to the proposed inclusion criteria and presentation of the TCLE for acceptance; 3) in view of the agreement of the term, the nutritionist was allowed to answer the digital questionnaire, which was available for 60 days; 4) analysis of the responses obtained; 5) data tabulation; and 6) examination of results against available scientific evidence. The findings lead to the conclusion that the consulted nutritionists, predominantly, report using probiotics in the clinical context and in immunotherapy, in addition to indicating self-report of promising results in the use of the therapy.