ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To find the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in primary care in our area and to study factors associated with this infection. DESIGN: Descriptive and prospective study.Setting. Urban health district with 30 765 people registered. PARTICIPANTS: 267 patients, selected by quota sampling from the census of age and sex groups, as a function of an alpha of 0.05, 0.06 accuracy, and expected prevalence of 50%. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: HP infection was studied through validated IgG serology (ELISA Wampole(R)). The following were studied as associated factors: age, sex, education, profession, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs taken. RESULTS: Mean age was 38.4, and 51.3% were women. Prevalence of HP infection was 52.4% (95% CI, 46.4-58.4). This proportion increased steadily with age, with a minimum of 11.5% in the 0-9 years-old range and a maximum of 87.5% in the 60-69 years-old group. There was more HP in men (56.9%) than in women (48.2%). In univariate analysis a linear tendency was found between HP infection and increased age (P<.0001) and the consumption of alcohol (P=.003), with no relationship to other variables studied. In the multivariate analysis, only age maintained statistical significance (P=.001). CONCLUSIONS: In our area the prevalence of HP infection is similar to that in other studies: it increases steadily with age and shows en epidemiological pattern that is half-way between countries of high and low prevalence.
