ArticleNeurogastroenterology and motility2026
Changes in Psychological States During Instrumented Biofeedback for Dyssynergic Defaecation and Fecal Incontinence Are Associated With Changes in Patient-Reported Outcomes.
Article in Neurogastroenterology and motility, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic constipation and fecal incontinence (FI) are severe and chronic conditions associated with reduced quality of life and distress for those affected. Instrumented anorectal biofeedback has demonstrated efficacy in both conditions and is often described as a learning process, suggesting efficacy is mediated via central cognitive and motivational pathways, but empirical evidence is lacking. The aim of this exploratory study was to seek evidence of change in psychological processes as central mediators of biofeedback treatment efficacy.
methodsPatients (n = 135) were prospectively recruited from a tertiary care hospital, diagnosed with constipation likely due to dyssynergic defecation and/or FI. A range of psychological traits covering cognitive processes, emotion regulation, and others were measured at the beginning and end of therapy, along with patient outcomes. Changes in psychological traits were correlated with corresponding changes in patient outcomes, including condition-specific quality of life measures.
resultsImprovement in constipation impact on quality of life was most notably correlated with reduced external locus of control (p = 0.004) and reduced use of acceptance as an emotion regulation strategy (p = 0.048). Correlates of improvement in FI impact on quality of life were also related to reduced use of acceptance as well as improvements in measures of executive function (p = 0.0003 to p = 0.03), cognitive flexibility (p = 0.0001 to p = 0.02), and emotional regulation (p = 0.002 to 0.045).
conclusionsOur data strongly support the hypothesis that improvements in the disease impact of constipation and FI during biofeedback are related to concomitant changes in central psychological processes, suggesting that psychological factors play an important part in the mechanism of action of biofeedback therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.