Consumption of OLL1073R-1 yogurt improves psychological quality of life in women healthcare workers: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background We conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of consumption of yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1 in women healthcare workers. In a previous study we used these data to investigate hypothesized preventive effects against flu, however any effects on improving mental quality of life were not analyzed at that time. In the present study, we focus on that aspect. Methods The participants (961 women; mainly nurses, aged 20–71 years) were randomly allocated to either the yogurt group (n = 479) or the control group (n = 482). Participants in the yogurt group drank 112 mL of OLL1073R-1 yogurt for 16 weeks, while those in the control group did not consume any yogurt. All participants were prohibited from consuming other yogurt or fermented dairy products during the study period. The participants answered the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Short Form-8 Health Survey (SF-8), and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) questionnaires at baseline and after 16 weeks. Results The PSQI score showed significant improvement after the intake of yogurt (p < 0.01). SF-8 results showed significant intervention effects in the General Health and Vitality scores (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). In other subscales of SF-8, we did not observe significant effects of the yogurt. In the GSRS, daily intake of yogurt exerted a preventive effect on constipation (p = 0.03). Conclusions Consumption of yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1 enhances subjective psychological quality of life by improving quality of sleep and gastrointestinal condition among women healthcare workers.

Probiotic supplements and stress-related occupational health outcomes: A scoping review

“…Some were subjective (e.g., self-reported health and sleep quality), and others were objective (e.g., inflammatory markers and stress hormones). Certain subjective outcomes such as mood 42,47 self-rated health, 44,47 and sleep quality 46,47 improved in probiotics groups, whereas others such as anxiety and depression did not differ between the probiotic and control groups. Additionally, there were no significant differences reported for the majority of inflammatory markers and stress hormones measured between treatment groups, whereas absenteeism and presentism were found to be consistently reduced in the probiotic groups, but not in the control groups.…”

“…Of these 24 studies, nine were excluded because the probiotic intervention was not delivered orally and three were excluded because they were not clinical trials. Two additional studies were identified when reviewing reference lists during the full‐text review process, resulting in 14 papers in the review 34–47 …”

“…Of the studies that reported participants' sex, 47.6% of the participants were women. The most common occupational group studied was healthcare workers 34,36,39,41,43,46,47 . followed by factory shift workers, 40,44,45 office workers, 38,42 and military personnel 35,37 .…”

“…As summarized in Table 4, the stress-related health outcomes measured varied widely, but we identified four primary areas of investigation: (1) stress biomarkers, Twice a day Guillemard/2010 34 Kalima/2016 35 Kinoshita/2019 41 Kinoshita/2021 47 Kokubo/2020 42 Mohammadi/2015 45 Mohammadi/2016 44 Pacifici/2020 36 Schlagenhauf/2020 37 Shida/2017 38 Smith-Ryan/2019 39 Tubelius/2005 40 Wang/2021 43 West/2020 46 Note. , Yes; , Unclear; , No.1.…”

“…40,42,43 3.5.5 | Other outcomes Several other health outcomes were examined in some studies included in this review that could not be specifically under the four of investigation. For example, sleep quality was measured in two studies using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index 46,47 and both studies reported the index to be higher (indicating better sleep quality) in the probiotics groups compared with the control groups. In two studies, signs and symptoms of gastrointestinal disturbances, such as constipation, vomiting, and stomachache, were less in the groups treated with probiotics.…”