Evaluation of serological test in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori and risk factors associated with the infection

Background: Serological testing has been widely used for the diagnosis of H. pylori. This study aimed to evaluate the serological test and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the test in the diagnosis of H. pylori. The study also aimed to address if there are risk factors like blood grouping, Smoking, Age, gender, and residence of the patients associated with H. pylori infection.Methods: A prospective cross‑sectional study was performed among 100 symptomatic patients attending Dr. Suliman dispensary, Elnehoud city in west Kordofan state-Sudan, from March to September 2016. H. pylori were detected on plasma by using Healgen immunochromatography test cards from Xiamen Boson Biotech Co., Ltd (China), and identified from a stool by using monoclonal antigen detection from the same trademarked company. Data for the risk factors associated with the infection were assessed in a participant interview.Results: The serological test showed significant differences when compared to the stool antigen test p-value = 0.000. The statistical analysis showed moderate sensitivity and high specificity of the serological test compared to the stool antigen detection test. The study also showed that smoking [odds ratio (OR): 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.24-4.02) and blood grouping (OR: 1.10, 95% CI: (1.08-1.60) were risk factors for H. pylori infection.Conclusions: The serological test showed high specificity and moderate sensitivity in comparison to the stool antigen test. The increased risk of H. pylori infection associated with smoking and blood grouping.

Somatic and psychiatric disorders and health care utilization among Iraqi refugees and Yemeni immigrant

Prior studies have reported increased prevalence of mental and somatic health disorders among refugees. However, many of these studies fail to include appropriate comparison groups. Moreover, there is a lack of studies focusing on health care utilization among refugee populations. We examined the distribution of somatic and mental health disorders as well as patterns of health care utilization among 116 Iraqi refugees as compared to 232 non-refugee Arab immigrants. Refugees as compared to non-refugee immigrants exhibit different distributional patterns with regards to several somatic and psychiatric disorders. In addition, specific somatic disorders [e.g., dermatologic and cardiovascular disorders] were found to be associated with greater health care consumption in refugees as compared to regular immigrants with identical diagnoses