The role of probiotics in lowering severity of symptoms in urban women with functional constipation: A randomized double-blind controlled trial

Functional constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders worldwide, especially in women. Probiotic consumption is commonly used to alleviate symptoms of constipation but the mechanism and the result remain unclear. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the effect of probiotics on constipation symptoms using PAC-SYM© (Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms) questionnaire. This was a randomized double-blind controlled trial (RCT) study, consisting of 73 subjects of urban women with functional constipation. This study compared three weeks of probiotic (Lactobacillus plantarum IS 10506) administration with placebo and evaluated improvements in PAC-SYM© scores before and after intervention. The subjects were divided into two groups, probiotics group (n = 34) and placebo group (n = 39), then were compared for their mean difference of PAC-SYM© scores. Our study suggested improvements of symptoms after three weeks of probiotic administration, as shown by the total score of PAC-SYM© (mean difference 7.65, 95% CI 3.1-12.20; p=0.001) along with three domains of PAC-SYM©, abdominal symptoms (mean difference 3.0, 95% CI 1.3-4.7; p=0.001), rectal symptoms (mean difference 1.62, 95% CI 0.12-3.13; p=0.034) and stool symptoms (mean difference 3.02, 95% CI 0.58-5.45; p=0.016. Probiotics was superior than placebo in improvements of constipation symptoms in urban women with functional constipation.