ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) has been commonly diagnosed in priests. The reason may be their lifestyles and rules, where they have only two meals a day and they cannot select their food but must eat what is provided by the givers. OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors of PUD in the priests MATERIAL AND METHOD: This study was a retrospective study of 266 priests who underwent gastroduodenoscopy at Department of Surgery, Priest Hospital between March 2004 and October 2006. The risk factors of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), smoking and years of ordination were collected, analyzed, and compared with other studies in general population. RESULTS: The age range was 14-93 years with a mean age of 53.88 +/- 16.42 years. The study showed 60 cases (22.56%) of peptic ulcer (PU) with 39 cases (65%) of H. pylori infection, mainly found between 51-60 years old priests. Moreover there were 44 cases (73.33%) of gastric ulcer (GU) with 26 cases (59.10%) of H. pylori infection and 16 cases (26.67%) of duodenal ulcer (DU) with 13 cases (81.25%) of Hpylori infection. The age was the only significant risk factor affecting PUD in the priests. Lifestyle was not a significant risk factor as hypothesized in general population. CONCLUSION: The only factor that related to the peptic ulcer in the priests is the age. The eating regulation does not affect the incidence of peptic ulcer. The lesser time being a priest or novice, the more prevalence of PU.