Table 1.
Characteristics of included RCTs for meta-analysis.
| Author, year (country) | N | Age | Constipation definition | Genus, species, and strain | Dose | Duration (weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banaszkiewicz and Szajewska, 2005 (Poland) | 84 | Probiotics: 79 months Placebo: 65 months | <3 BMs per week for at least 12 weeks | Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG | 109colony-forming units, twice daily orally | 12 |
| Bu et al., 2007 (Taiwan) | 45 | Probiotics: 36.7 months Placebo: 35 months | Having a stool frequency of <3 times per week for >2 months | Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus, Lcr35 | 8 × 108c.f.u., two capsules, b.i.d | 4 |
| Khodadad et al., 2010 (Iran) | 102 | Synbiotics + liquid paraffin: 5.9 years, Synbiotics + Placebo: 6.2 years, Liquidparaffin + placebo: 6.9 years | Rome III criteria | L. casei, L. rhamnosus, S. thermophilus, B. breve, L.acidophilus, B. infantis | 1 × 109CFU/1 sachet, per day | 4 |
| Sadeghzadeh et al., 2014 (Iran) | 48 | Probiotics: 6.1 years Control: 6.3 years | Rome III criteria | Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus PXN54, Streptococcus thermophiles PXN66, Bifidobacterium breve PXN25, Lactobacillus acidophilus PXN35, Bifidobacterium infantis PXN27, Lactobacillus bulgaricus | 1 × 109CFU | 4 |
| Saneian, 2013, (Iran) | 60 | Probiotics: 5.4 years Control: 4.7 years | Rome III Criteria | Lactobacillus Sporogenes | 15 × 107 spores,1 Tab/20 kg/day | 8 |
| Tabbers, 2011, (Netherlands, Poland) | 159 | Probiotics: 7 years Control: 6.5 years | Rome III criteria | Lactobacillus delbruec kiissp. Bulgaricus CNCM strain numbers I-1632 and I-1519, Streptococcus the rmophilus CNCM strain, Lactococcuscremoris Blactis DN-173 010 | 1.2 × 108CFU per pot, two pots per day | 3 |