Kiwifruit and Kiwifruit Extracts for Treatment of Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Table 4
Summary of findings table: kiwi compared to psyllium for constipation.
Certainty assessment
No. of patients
Effect
Certainty
Importance
No of studies
Study design
Risk of bias
Inconsistency
Indirectness
Imprecision
Other considerations
Kiwi
Psyllium
Relative (95% CI)
Absolute (95% CI)
Weekly frequency of spontaneous bowel movements (higher number indicates an increase frequency) (follow-up: range 14 days to 30 days; assessed with: weekly mean number of SBM)
Bristol stool scale (higher number indicates softer stool) (follow-up: range 14 days to 28 days; assessed with BSS 1–7 scale)
2
Randomized trials
Serious a
Not serious
Not serious
Serious c
None
61
54
—
MD 0.63 BSS higher (0.01 higher to 1.3 higher)
⊕⊕◯◯ LOW
IMPORTANT
Abdominal pain (follow-up: range 14 days to 28 days; assessed with: Abdominal pain scale)
2
Randomized trials
Serious a
Not serious
Not serious
Serious c,d
None
61
54
—
SMD 0.16 SD lower (0.6 lower to 0.2 higher)
⊕⊕◯◯ LOW
IMPORTANT
Straining frequency (lower number indicates improvement) (follow-up: range 14 days to 28 days; assessed with: weekly frequency of straining)
2
Randomized trials
Serious a
Not serious
Not serious
Serious
None
61
54
—
MD 0.2 weekly frequency lower (1.3 lower to 0.9 higher)
⊕⊕◯◯ LOW
IMPORTANT
CI: confidence interval; MD: mean difference; SMD: standardized mean difference. (a) Chey, 2021, had major issues with randomization and allocation concealment. Included data from abstract published by Barbara, no access to the full article. (b) We did not rate down for inconsistency as some of the elements have been incorporated in rating down of risk of bias and imprecision. (c) Small sample size. (d) Confidence interval is wide, crosses the null, and includes harm.
