Table 2.

Effects of LcS on constipation-related indices.

	Constipation			Non-constipation			Constipation vs. non-constipation
	D0	D28	p-Valuea	D0	D28	p-Valuea	p-Valueb
							D0	D28
Defecation frequency (times/week)	4.81 ± 1.61	7.81 ± 4.65	0.004	15.45 ± 2.79	16.59 ± 4.63	0.343	<0.001	<0.001
Stool consistency (BS)	2.52 ± 0.70	3.68 ± 1.09	0.002	4.18 ± 0.70	3.96 ± 0.60	0.084	<0.001	0.171
Pains during defecation	2.03 ± 0.87	1.56 ± 0.68	0.046	1.03 ± 0.09	1.12 ± 0.23	0.017	<0.001	0.004
Incomplete feeling during defecation	2.49 ± 0.65	1.67 ± 0.75	0.004	1.18 ± 0.28	1.12 ± 0.22	0.158	<0.001	0.003
Straining during defecation	2.67 ± 0.65	1.69 ± 0.68	0.003	1.21 ± 0.30	1.26 ± 0.33	0.638	<0.001	0.021
Defecation time	2.05 ± 0.63	1.64 ± 0.60	0.005	1.40 ± 0.50	1.46 ± 0.56	0.116	0.002	0.246
Unsuccessful defecatory attempts	1.71 ± 0.58	1.23 ± 0.55	0.002	1.02 ± 0.06	1.04 ± 0.10	0.336	<0.001	0.191
Abdominal discomfort	2.10 ± 0.70	1.34 ± 0.57	0.002	1.14 ± 0.26	1.20 ± 0.33	0.286	<0.001	0.201
Faecal pH	6.61 ± 0.51	6.63 ± 0.58	0.776	6.37 ± 0.64	6.21 ± 0.47	0.263	0.258	0.024
Faecal water %	76.36 ± 7.19	76.07 ± 8.24	0.796	81.93 ± 5.35	81.48 ± 5.93	0.592	0.009	0.052
SCFA (mg/g⋅wet feces)
Acetic acid	30.08 ± 23.27	23.42 ± 12.94	0.234	30.38 ± 10.31	25.79 ± 14.42	0.14	0.372	0.759
Propionic acid	15.32 ± 9.18	14.2 ± 7.28	0.796	18.08 ± 8.10	18.47 ± 8.71	0.685	0.473	0.234
Butyric acid	7.88 ± 5.93	8.81 ± 6.83	0.918	14.71 ± 7.52	13.74 ± 7.56	0.638	0.004	0.017

^aStatistical significance was calculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test indicating difference between D0 and D28 in same group, and p < 0.05 was considered with significant difference. ^bStatistical significance was calculated by Mann–Whitney U test indicating the differences between groups at same time point, and p < 0.05 was considered with significant difference (indicated as bolded values).