Effect of a fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium lactis DN-173010 on Chinese constipated women

Table 1 General basic information of subjects before product consumption

Parameters		Control group (n = 63)	Test group (n = 63)	P value
Eating pattern	Regular	59	56	0.344
	Irregular	4	7
Appetite	Good	17	21	0.437
	Common	46	42
	Poor	0	0
Eating amount	Large	3	4	0.927
	Common	52	51
	Small	8	8
Age (yr)		46.4 ± 6.7	46.4 ± 9.8	0.992
Body weight (kg)		62.5 ± 10.4	61.2 ± 9.6	0.478
Stool frequency (n/wk)		2.4 ± 0.6	2.4 ± 0.6	0.746
Defecation condition score		1.9 ± 1.2	1.9 ± 1.2	0.914
Stool consistency		1.6 ± 1.1	1.5 ± 1.1	0.408

Table 2 Stool frequency (n/wk, mean ± SD)

	n	Baseline	Week 1	Week 2
Control group	63	2.4 ± 0.6	2.5 ± 0.9	2.6 ± 1.0a
Test group	63	2.4 ± 0.6	3.5 ± 1.5bc	4.1 ± 1.7bc

Note: Self comparison between before and after product consumption,

^bP < 0.01,

^aP < 0.05; compared with control group,

^cP < 0.01.

Table 3 Defecation condition score (mean ± SD)

	n	Baseline	Week 1	Week 2
Control group	63	1.9 ± 1.2	1.6 ± 1.1a	1.6 ± 1.1
Test group	63	1.9 ± 1.2	1.1 ± 0.9bd	0.8 ± 1.0bd

Note: Self comparison before and after test,

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01; compared with control group,

^dP < 0.01.

Table 4 Stool consistency score (mean ± SD)

	n	Baseline	Week 1	Week 2
Control group	63	1.6 ± 1.1	1.4 ± 1.0	1.3 ± 1.0a
Test group	63	1.5 ± 1.1	1.0 ± 0.8bc	0.6 ± 0.8bd

Note: Self comparison before and after test,

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01; compared with control group,

^cP < 0.05,

^dP < 0.01.

Table 5 Food intake amount of the subjects (g, mean ± SD)

	day 1-2		day 6-7		day 13-14
	Control group	Test group	Control group	Test group	Control group	Test group
Staple food	341 ± 110	324 ± 117	350 ± 109	334 ±115	351 ± 117	353 ± 123
Fruits and vegetables	287 ± 227	341 ± 235	296 ± 212	322 ± 223	305 ± 244	318 ± 201
Meat and egg	118 ± 120	119 ± 100	114 ± 104	123 ± 103	121 ± 95	111 ± 105
Total daily intake	745 ± 343	784 ± 322	761 ± 294	779 ± 316	776 ± 344	783 ± 315