Investigating the characteristics of probiotics marketed in the Middle East and pharmacists' perception of use in Muscat, Oman

The aim of this research work was to investigate the characteristics of non-dairy and dairy-based probiotic products marketed in three Middle Eastern countries as well as assess pharmacists' perception towards probiotics in Muscat, Oman. A cross sectional study approach was followed which involved a product survey of 34 nondairy over-the-counter (OTC) probiotics and 28 dairy-based probiotics in addition to a questionnaire which was distributed to 121 pharmacists. The results revealed that 61.8% of OTC probiotics were consisting of multistrain probiotic microorganisms while it was 32.1% with dairy-based probiotics. Furthermore, OTC probiotics offer a variety of probiotic microorganisms as well as higher CFU per intake. The questionnaire which was distributed to pharmacists in Muscat showed that pharmacists have good background knowledge about probiotics. It also showed that there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in practice of using probiotics between community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists in aspects related to probiotics intake, counseling and storage. In conclusion, the probiotics available in the selected markets have a potential application in clinical practice. This can be successfully achieved by giving health care providers including pharmacists a proper orientation and updates about probiotics.