Table 1. Patient demographics.

From: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of oral probiotic Streptococcus salivarius M18 on head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy: a pilot study

Variablea

Placebo (n = 6)

Probiotic (n = 7)

p value

Gender, male:female

4:2

3:4

0.59

Age (years)

53.5 ± 17.1

53.3 ± 13.0

0.98

Total radiation dose (Gy)

65.5 ± 5.0

67.1 ± 4.5

0.56

Concomitant chemotherapy

3/6 (50%)

5/7 (71%)

0.59

Xerostomia (patient-reported)

5/6 (83%)

5/7 (71%)

1.00

Weeks post radiotherapy

11.0 ± 8.6

6.9 ± 2.5

0.21

Total lozenges taken

26 ± 3.0

27 ± 3.0

0.42

Pre-intervention CPITN

3.2 ± 0.9

2.7 ± 0.9

0.42

Pre-intervention O’Leary PI

48 ± 30%

37 ± 25%

0.54

  1. CPITN community periodontal index of treatment needs, PI plaque index.
  2. aCategorical variables are reported as proportion yes/total (%), with the exception of gender, which is given as male:female ratio, no. (%). Continuous variables are summarised as mean ± standard deviation.
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