Epidemiological study of Helicobacter pylori infection and its relationship with pathologic changes of the antral mucosa in rural areas of Yangzhou

Abstract

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection remains one of the world's public health problems, and socioeconomic conditions and modifiable lifestyle factors may influence the rate of H. pylori infection. As the most important controllable cause of gastric cancer, eradication of H. pylori is of great significance for the prevention of gastric cancer. AIM To investigate the status of Helicobacter pylori infection and its relationship with the pathological change of the antral mucosa. METHODS A total of 1412 subjects were selected from the program of Endoscopy Screening of Upper Gastrointestinal Tumor in Yangzhou from January 2019 to December 2019. Questionnaire survey, 14C-urea breath test, gastroscopy, and tissue biopsy were performed among the selected population. Statistical software was used to calculate the prevalence rate of H. pylori infection, the related influencing factors, and the relationship between H. pylori infection and the pathological changes of the antral mucosa. RESULTS In this study, the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.5 and the age ranged from 36 to 76 years old. The prevalence rate of H. pylori infection was 43.8% in rural areas of Yangzhou city. According to the univariate analysis, there was a correlation between smoking, dietary preference, level of H. pylori awareness, gastrointestinal symptoms and H. pylori infection (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that smoking was an independent risk factor for H. pylori infection (odds ratio = 1.427, 95% confidence interval: 1.103-1.847). In the analysis of the relationship between H. pylori infection and the pathological changes of the gastric mucosa, the proportion of H. pylori-positive people exhibiting atrophic gastritis, intestinal chemosis, heterogeneous hyperplasia, and gastric cancer was significantly higher than that of H. pylori-negative participants. CONCLUSION The H. pylori infection rate in Yangzhou is high, and bad habit can affect the prevalence of H. pylori infection. H. pylori infection is associated with the progression of gastric mucosal pathology. It is recommended to strengthen education among the population to improve the prevention and control of H. pylori in the region and reduce the incidence of gastric cancer.