Modulatory effects of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 on defecation in elderly patients receiving enteral feeding

Figure 3 Effects of BB536 intake on changes in defecation frequency. A: Subgroup of patients with low infrequent defecation (≤ 4 times a week); B: Subgroup of patients with normal frequency of defecation (5-9 times a week); C: Subgroup of patients with high frequency of defecation (≥ 10 times a week) at baseline (week-1). Results present the summary of Trials 1 and 2 for the placebo (○) and BB536 groups (●) composed of the BB536 group in Trial 1 and BB536-H and BB536-L groups in Trial 2). Times of defecation were averaged weekly for each individual, and changes from baseline (week-1) were calculated. The weekly scores for changes were further averaged every 4 wk. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs week-1 group; ^cP < 0.05, ^dP < 0.01 between groups.