Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul:7:155-60.

Physicians' Knowledge and Attitude Towards Fecal Microbiota Transplant in Iran

Affiliations

Physicians' Knowledge and Attitude Towards Fecal Microbiota Transplant in Iran

Shirin Moossavi et al. Middle East J Dig Dis. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is employed to replace the 'unhealthy' microbiota of the patient with the 'healthy' microbiota of a pre-screened healthy donor. Given the growing importance of gut microbiota dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of intestinal or extraintestinal diseases; it is conceivable that FMT becomes integrated in the routine clinical practice. Our objective was to assess the knowledge and attitude of the Iranian physicians towards FMT. METHODS We surveyed the participants of Iranian gastroenterology and hepatology 2014 conference. RESULTS Overall, 146 (68.5%) were familiar with FMT; of whom 132 (94.28%) were willing to accept FMT if scientifically and ethically approved and 115 (88.46%) were willing to refer their patients for FMT if indicated. In total, 42 (30.7%) had identified stool preparation as the most unappealing aspect of FMT, while 17 (11.6%) reported the therapeutic use of fecal material as the most unappealing and 39 (28.5%) indicated that both are equally unappealing. The doctors who had an overall positive opinion toward FMT reported less negative feelings towards FMT. CONCLUSION Iranian physicians are willing to accept FMT as a therapeutic option if it is scientifically justified and ethically approved. Nevertheless, physicians prefer to skip the stool preparation phase; as they are more in favour of synthetic microbiota as opposed to fecal microbiota.

Keywords: Attitude; Awareness; FMT; Fecal microbiota transplant; Gut microbiota; Physician.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Guarner F, Malagelada JR. Gut flora in health and disease. Lancet. 2003;361:512–9. - PubMed
    1. Petrof EO, Claud EC, Gloor GB, Allen-Vercoe E. Microbial ecosystems therapeutics: a new paradigm in medicine? Benef Microbes. 2013;4:53–65. - PubMed
    1. Zipursky JS, Sidorsky TI, Freedman CA, Sidorsky MN, Kirkland KB. Patient attitudes toward the use of fecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;55:1652–8. - PubMed
    1. Kahn SA, Vachon A, Rodriquez D, Goeppinger SR, Surma B, Marks J. et al. Patient perceptions of fecal microbiota transplantation for ulcerative colitis. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2013;19:1506–13. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang ZD, Hoang LN, Lasco TM, Garey KW, Dupont HL. Physician attitudes toward the use of fecal transplantation for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection in a metropolitan area. Clin Infect Dis. 2013;56:1059–60. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources