title: Effect of waxy barley, Kirarimochi, consumption on bowel movements of late-stage elderly residents at Roken nursing home.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is very important for the late-stage elderly to have the least stressful bowel movements for maintaining a good quality of life. It is generally accepted that consuming adequate dietary fiber is a promising method for the prevention and management of stressful bowel movements such as those during constipation. Therefore, we examined the effect of long-term consumption of waxy barley, which is high in dietary fiber, on the bowel movements of the late-stage elderly living at Roken nursing home (a geriatric health services facility), Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the defecation and laxative administration frequencies of the subjects before and after waxy barley consumption, for which we served 28 residents a boiled mixture of rice and waxy barley (variety name, Kirarimochi) as the main meals for 5 months, from November to March. In October, all residents were served boiled rice as the main meals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The residents were categorized into "constipated" subjects and "non-constipated" subjects according to their weekly defecation frequency during October. Among the 14 residents categorized as constipated subjects, monthly number of days with defecation in November, January, and March significantly increased in comparison to monthly number of days with defecation in October. In addition, monthly number of days with laxative administration significantly decreased in December and February in comparison to monthly number of days with laxative administration in October. In contrast, the defecation and laxative administration frequencies did not change after waxy barley consumption among the 14 residents categorized as non-constipated subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumption of waxy barley, Kirarimochi, for 5 months improved the bowel movements of the constipated subjects; however, the consumption had no effect on the bowel movements of the non-constipated subjects at Roken nursing home. These results indicate that consuming waxy barley, Kirarimochi, is beneficial for the management of constipation in the late-stage elderly residents at Roken nursing home.
authors.affiliation: Mimasaka Sakutou Nursing Home, 280 Emi, Mimasaka, Okayama, 709-4234, Japan.|Present Address: Health promotion section, 390-2 Kitayama, Mimasaka, Okayama, 707-0014, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.affiliation: Konan Women's University, 6-2-23, Morikita, Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Hyougo, 658-0001, Japan.
authors.forename: Kozo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komae
authors.affiliation: NARO Western Region Agricultural Research Center, Crop Breeding and Food Functional Components Research Division, 1-3-1 Senyu-cho, Zentsuji, Kagawa, 765-8508, Japan.
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: NARO Western Region Agricultural Research Center, Crop Breeding and Food Functional Components Research Division, 1-3-1 Senyu-cho, Zentsuji, Kagawa, 765-8508, Japan.
authors.forename: Toji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human Life Science, Mimasaka University, 50 Kitasono-cho, Tsuyama, Okayama, 708-8511, Japan. soneyoshi@mimasaka.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0847-0475
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sone
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003248:Constipation / Q000178:diet therapy*; D003672:Defecation / Q000502:physiology*; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D001467:Hordeum; D006801:Humans; D054368:Laxatives / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011788:Quality of Life
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D054368:Laxatives
keywords: Bowel movement; Constipation; Defecation; Dietary fiber; Late-stage elderly; Laxative administration; Nursing home; Waxy barley