An open study of oat bran meal biscuits (‘Lejfibre’) in the treatment of constipation in the elderly

Summary

Fifty elderly patients consulting their general practitioner with the complaint of constipation were entered into an open trial to assess the benefit on their symptoms of adding bran biscuits (‘Lejfibre’) twice daily to their diet. Patients were followed-up over 12 weeks. Treatment caused a marked improvement in bowel frequency, stool consistency and pain on defaecation and no patients complained of side-effects. The biscuits were well tolerated and compliance with therapy was good. In addition to the improvement in bowel symptoms, it was noted that mean body weight was significantly reduced at the end of the study.

Key Words::

• Dietary fibre
• constipation
• elderly