Partially hydrolyzed guar gum in pediatric functional abdominal pain

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical data

	PHGG group A	Placebo group B	P value
n	30	30
Age (yr)	12.3 ± 2.0	13.1 ± 1.5	0.16
Sex (male/female)	12/18	11/19	0.88
Self-reported pain	3.7 ± 1.2	3.5 ± 1.5	0.15
c-IBS	21/30 (70%)	19/30 (63%)	0.75
d-IBS	9/30 (30%)	11/30 (37%)	0.64

Values are mean ± SD or n (%). PHGG: Partially hydrolyzed guar gum; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome.

Table 2 Modified by Birmingham Score Questionnaire[36]

Constipation	Diarrhoea	Pain
Hard bowel motions	Loose, mushy or watery bowel motions	Discomfort or pain
Straining	Diarrhoea	Discomfort or pain after eating
Constipation	Leaked or soiled	Sleep problem
	Urgency
	Mucus or slime

Each question had a standard response scale with symptoms all being measured on a 6-point Likert Scale ranging from 0 = none of the time to 5 = all of the time.

Table 3 Outcome measures at baseline (T0), at 4 wk of supplementation (T2) and after 8 wk (mean ± SD)

	Group A			Group B
	PHGG 5g/d (n = 30)			Placebo (n = 30)
	Baseline	4 wk (T2)	8 wk (T3)	Baseline	4 wk (T2)	8 wk (T3)
Birmingham Scorea	28.5 ± 7.16	24.3 ± 6.02	23.0 ± 6.15	29.5 ± 6.94	28.4 ± 8.39	28.7 ± 7.54
Bristol Stool Scorea
IBS-c	1.00 ± 1.02	2.02 ± 1.50	2.32 ± 1.50	1.16 ± 0.89	1.76 ± 1.04	1.65 ± 1.08
IBS-d	5.02 ± 0.63	4.01 ± 0.16	4.07 ± 0.12	5.54 ± 0.32	4.86 ± 0.96	4.89 ± 0.73
Wong-Baker Scorea
	2.15 ± 0.14	1.86 ± 0.14	1.63 ± 0.16	2.16 ± 0.17	2.04 ± 0.17	2.05 ± 0.19

^aP < 0.05 vs placebo (Wilcoxon 2-sample test). PHGG: Partially hydrolyzed guar gum; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome.