Central obesity is associated with helicobacter pylori infection: a large-scale cross-sectional retrospective study in West China

Abstract

Context: The association between obesity and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection remains controversial. Aims: The objective is to investigate the relationship between obesity and H. pylori infection, as diagnosed on the basis of a 14C urea breath test (14C-UBT) and waist circumference (WC). Settings and design: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed at Health management center of a Tertiary care teaching hospital in Southwest of China. Materials and methods: Clinical information of 76,915 individuals (46,003 men and 30,912 women) with 44.0 (35.0–51.0) years was extracted from medical record. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by a positive 14C-UBT, and obesity was defined as WC ≥ 90 cm in men and ≥ 80 cm in women. Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics, Student’s t test, Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-square test, followed by binary logistic regression were performed in SPSS. Results: The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 39.95%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection in subjects with central obesity was significantly higher than that in normal-WC subjects (42.20% vs. 39.10%, p < 0.001). WC was significantly higher in H. pylori-positive subjects compared with H. pylori-negative subjects (p < 0.01). There was a linear association between WC quintiles and H. pylori infection prevalence. After adjusting for confounders, central obesity was associated with H. pylori infection (OR = 1.052, 95% CI, 1.009–1.096, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Central obesity is associated with H. pylori infection after adjusting for multiple confounding factors such as age, gender, and lifestyle characteristics.