Fiber and Water Improve Bowel Habit in Humans

July 16, 2016 updated by: Fernando Fornari, Universidade de Passo Fundo

Fiber and Water Improve Bowel Habit and Stool Microbiota in Healthy Participants: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Twenty healthy volunteers had their baseline parameters (symptoms, bowel habit, quality of life, fecal characteristics and microbiota) measured during a week of monitoring followed by randomization to a 14 days course of increased fiber in diet or increased fiber and water intake, with repetition of parameters measuring at the end.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Demographic and clinical data were collected and recorded in the first interview after signing the informed consent. The protocol was composed of two phases. The baseline phase lasted 7 days, when participants reported their usual diet on a food dairy in the first 3 days, between Sunday and Tuesday. Calculation of nutrient intake was performed using ADS nutri software (UFPEL, Pelotas, Brazil). Participants approved for the next phase were then randomized to fiber and fiber+water groups, which lasted 14 days. During this period participants were asked to report their intestinal habits including bowel movements, graduation of straining and subjective stool consistency. Participants were instructed to rank straining using a Likert scale from 1 (minimum) to 5 (maximum), and the Bristol scale for stool consistency. In the last day of treatment phase (Saturday) participants collected feces and urine of 24 hours, and responded a symptoms questionnaire. Food and liquid intake were recorded on a diary during the last 3 days of treatment for comparison with the baseline phase stage.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
20

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

19 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • non-obese
  • absence of abdominal complaints

Exclusion Criteria:

  • use of medications that interfere with the gastrointestinal tract function
  • past of abdominal surgery
  • any acute or chronic disease

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Sham Comparator: Fiber
Participants were treated with 2 sachets of fiber orally a day for 14 days, after baseline characterization of bowel habit and stool features.
Dietary supplement: Fiber
Fiber composed of wheat bran, pectin and green banana flour (total daily amount of 13 g for women and 20 g for men), keeping the usual liquid intake
Active Comparator: Fiber and Water
Participants were treated with 2 sachets of fiber orally a day and ingested 2 liters of water a day for 14 days, after baseline characterization of bowel habit and stool features.
Dietary supplement: Fiber and Water
Fiber composed of wheat bran, pectin and green banana flour (total daily amount of 13 g for women and 20 g for men) plus 2 liter of water/day

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
bowel habit: evacuation frequency
Time Frame: 14 days
The patient reported in a diary the number of evacuations per day during 14 days of experimental use of fiber or fiber+water
14 days
bowel habit: straining
Time Frame: 14 days
The patient reported the effort for each evacuation using a Likert scale between 1 and 5 (1 = no effort / 5 = maximal) during 14 days of experimental use of fiber or fiber+water
14 days
bowel habit: stool consistency
Time Frame: 14 days
The patient reported the stool consistency of evacuations using a Bristol scale during 14 days of experimental use of fiber or fiber+water
14 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Abdominal symptoms
Time Frame: 14 days
self report of any abdominal symptom (yes/not) during treatment with fiber or fiber+water, including: pain, discomfort, distension, defecation urgency, backpain
14 days
Stool characteristics: fecal weight
Time Frame: 14 days
A sample of feces was collected at the end of 14 days treatment and analyzed for fecal weight (g)
14 days
Stool characteristics: percentage of water
Time Frame: 14 days
A sample of feces was collected at the end of 14 days treatment and analyzed for water percentage
14 days
Stool characteristics: pH
Time Frame: 14 days
A sample of feces was collected at the end of 14 days treatment and analyzed for measurement of pH
14 days
Intestinal microbiota
Time Frame: 14 days
A sample of feces was collected at the end of 14 days treatment for PCR analyses of 10 bacteria groups.
14 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Universidade de Passo Fundo

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Fernando Fornari, Professor, Universidade de Passo Fundo

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 11, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 16, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 20, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 20, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 16, 2016

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • MASTERUFRGSGROSA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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