Table 5.

The effect of dietary intervention on individual symptoms

Variable	Low FODMAP (n = 14)				Psyllium (n = 9)				P value between groups
	Baseline	Week 4	Difference	P value within group	Baseline	Week 4	Difference	P value within group
Baseline vs week 4
Bristol Stool Form Scale, mean ± SD	5.3 ± 1	4.4 ± 1	−0.9	.02	4.6 ± 0.7	4.3 ± 1	−0.3	.43	.27
Stool frequency, mean ± SD	3.2 ± 1	2.6 ± 9	−0.6	.14	3.3 ± 1	2.8 ± 0.6	−0.5	.17	.83
FI Frequency, mean ± SD	2.2 ± 2	1 ± 2	−1.2	.13	1.1 ± 0.7	0.4 ± 0.5	−0.7	.0003	< .0001
Solid FI frequency, mean ± SD	.6 ± 2	0.4 ± 1	−0.2	.66	0.9 ± 0.8	0.3 ± 0.1	−0.6	.003	.49
Liquid FI frequency, mean ± SD	1.4 ± 1.3	0.6 ± 0.8	−0.8	.08	0.3 ± 0.5	0.1 ± 0.2	−0.2	.15	.20

Variable	Low FODMAP (n = 14)				Psyllium (n = 10)				P Value between groups
	Week 1	Week 4	Difference	P Value within group	Week 1	Week 4	Difference	P Value within group
Week 1 vs week 4
Urgency, mean ± SD	4.3 ± 3	3.4 ± 2	−0.9	.15	3.5 ± 2	3.8 ± 3	+0.3	.7	.20
Abdominal pain, mean ± SD	2.2 ± 2	1.5 ± 2	−0.7	.18	1.5 ± 1	1.3 ± 2	−0.2	.63	.12
Bloating, mean ± SD	2.6 ± 2	2.3 ± 2	−0.3	.62	1.6 ± 1	2.2 ± 2	+0.6	.23	.27
Fatigue, mean ± SD	4.2 ± 2	3.2 ± 3	−0.9	.11	3.5 ± 4	3.3 ± 2.6	−0.2	.8	.50

Between-group P values refer to the change from baseline between groups at week 4 for low FODMAP and psyllium subjects.

FI, fecal incontinence; FODMAP, fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.