Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF DIETETIC PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
Volume 79, Issue 1, Pages 35-41Publisher
DIETITIANS CANADA
DOI: 10.3148/cjdpr-2017-028
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- SENESCYT (Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior, Ciencia y Tecnologia) Ecuador
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The high prevalence of constipation in long-term care (LTC) residents has been a long-standing issue for caregivers, attending health professionals, and the residents themselves. The traditional medical response has been to utilize pharmaceutical laxatives, enemas, and suppositories for treatment. The purpose of this review was to determine if fibre supplementation (including fibre added to foods) is effective in increasing stool frequency, improving stool consistency, and decreasing laxative use in LTC residents. A systematic search was conducted using PubMed and CINAHL databases, inclusive to March 2017. Search terms included: long-term care or nursing home AND fiber (fibre), bran, psyllium, inulin, or prebiotic. Intervention trials of fibre supplementation with >= 5 LTC residents were included. The search generated 456 articles following removal of duplicates; 8 studies met the inclusion criteria. Three additional trials were identified through a hand search of references of pertinent articles. Current evidence suggests that added fibre may be effective in increasing stool frequency and/or decreasing laxative use in LTC residents and, thus, may lessen the burden of constipation. However, randomized controlled trials are needed to clearly demonstrate the effects of adding fibre to foods, particularly insoluble and less fermentable sources, on constipation in LTC residents.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available