Dietary fiber supplementation for fecal incontinence: a randomized clinical trial.

Study answer

What this study found

Psyllium reduced fecal incontinence frequency, gum arabic was not different from placebo, and CMC worsened fecal incontinence. Weekly FI frequency changed from 6.2 to 5.5 with placebo, 4.7 to 6.2 with CMC, 5.3 to 4.3 with gum arabic, and 5.0 to 2.5 with psyllium. The authors concluded that psyllium may help by forming a gel in feces that retains water. FI quality of life did not differ among groups, and psyllium was generally well tolerated.

Study & population

Randomized clinical trial in community-dwelling adults with fecal incontinence of loose or liquid stools in Minnesota, United States, enrolled from 2004 to 2007.

Intervention

Oral dietary fiber was provided in three active regimens: sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), gum arabic, or psyllium.

Key limitation

The trial was relatively small within each active arm and short in duration, limiting assessment of longer-term benefit and safety.

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Original abstract