Original Research

Comparison of Effectiveness of Probiotic versus Antibiotic Monotherapy in the Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Quasiexperimental Study

Sumera Kanwal1
King Edward Medical University/ Lady Willingdon Hospital, Lahore
Quratulain Shahzad2
Akhtar Saeed Medical College, Lahore
Zobia Jawad1
King Edward Medical University/ Lady Willingdon Hospital, Lahore
Nomia Ashraf3
Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore
Musarrat Fatima4
Government Judicial Complex, Hafizabad
Aisha Malik3
Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore

✉ Correspondence: Sumera Kanwal Email: sumera_kanwal11@yahoo.com

DOI https://doi.org/10.70302/jpsim.v7i2.2621
Volume: 7, Issue 2 Pages: 104–108 Published: 03 Jun 2026
Received: 18 Aug 2025 Revised: 15 Apr 2026 Accepted: 04 May 2026 Published Online: 03 Jun 2026

Abstract

Objective

To compare the treatment success rate among women with bacterial vaginosis receiving either probiotic or antibiotic monotherapy.

Methods

A quasi-experimental study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Lady Willingdon Hospital, Lahore, from August 2022 to March 2023. Total 168 women were allocated into two non-randomized groups of equal size. Group A (n = 84) received probiotics twice daily for six weeks, while Group B (n = 84) received antibiotics twice daily for seven days. At six weeks post-intervention, women meeting at least three of the four Amsel’s criteria were diagnosed as bacterial vaginosis positive; those who did not were considered treated successfully. Chi-square test used to compare the treatment success rate between groups.

Results

The distribution of baseline characteristics was comparable between study groups (all p-values >0.05). Six weeks after intervention, women in Probiotic group had slight higher frequency of vaginal discharge (60.7% vs. 57.1%; p-value 0.638), and significantly lower frequencies of fishy odor vaginal fluid (33.3% vs. 51.2%; p-value 0.019), vaginal pH >4.5 (22.6% vs. 53.6%; p-value <0.001), and presence of clue cells (20.2% vs. 36.9%; p-value 0.017). Overall 63.7% women were successfully treated. The women in Probiotic group showed significantly higher treatment success rate as compared to the Antibiotic group (71.4% vs. 56.0%; p-value 0.037).

Conclusion

Probiotics were more effective than antibiotics in treating bacterial vaginosis, with higher success rates and better symptom resolution. These findings support probiotics as a viable standalone treatment option.

Keywords
Probiotics Antibiotics Effectiveness Bacterial Vaginosis

How to Cite This Article

Kanwal S, Shahzad Q, Jawad Z, Ashraf N, Fatima M, Malik A. Comparison of Effectiveness of Probiotic versus Antibiotic Monotherapy in the Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Quasiexperimental Study. J Pak Soc Intern Med. 2026;7(2):104–108. doi:10.70302/jpsim.v7i2.2621

Conflict of Interest

All authors declare no competing interests.

Disclosed in accordance with ICMJE and COPE guidelines.

Funding

No specific funding was received for this research.

Funder information follows the Crossref Funder Registry standard.

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Reference list indexed for Google Scholar and ResearchGate. DOI links resolve via doi.org.

CC BY CC BY 4.0 This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. May be shared and adapted with attribution. © 2026 Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine.
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