Helicobacter pylori infection: prevalence and associated factors in a study population undergoing Carbon-14 urea breath test

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is common in developing countries such as Benin. This germ may cause the development of gastroduodenal diseases, ranging from gastritis to gastric cancer. Several studies on this bacterium carried out in Benin have used serology, anatomopathological examination of biopsies or antigen detection test on stool sample collections. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of H. pylori infection and factors associated with H. pylori infection using a respiratory test. The bacterium could cause chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa and peptic ulcer disease or, more rarely, gastric cancer or lymphoma. Methods: we conducted a prospective, descriptive study of 150 patients who performed carbon-14 urea breath test. Only patients admitted for respiratory test and who gave their consent were included. A survey was completed by all patients during the study. Simple univariate logistic regression analysis identified factors associated with H. pylori infection at a threshold of 0.05. Multivariate analysis included in the model all variables with a p-value less than 0.20. Manual top-down procedure was used until the final model was obtained, which allowed the retention of adjusted odds ratios for factors associated. Results: the average age of patients was 44.4±15.8 years, ranging from 5 to 84 years; men accounted for 54% of the study population. Of the 150 subjects, 82 (57.8%) had higher education level, compared with 8 (5.6%) who were not educated, 116 (80.6%) lived with a partner, 24 (36%) lived in a room with more than 10 people and 84 (59.6%) were christians. The main reasons why respiratory tests were performed were: poorly systematized abdominal pain (53.3%; 70/150), epigastric induced pain (35.3%; 53/150), epigastralgia (20.7%; 31/150), ulcer syndrome (16%; 24/150). Respiratory test showed that the prevalence of H. pylori in the study population was 34.7% (52/150). In multivariate analysis, the variables significantly associated with H. pylori infection were: mean age [aOR (95% CI) = 1.02; OR (95% CI) = 1.00-1.05 and p = 0.01] and prior treatment for H. pylori eradication [aOR (95% CI) = 4.79; OR (95% CI) = 1.50-13.86 and p = 0.006]. No comorbidity was associated with H. pylori infection in our series. Conclusion: the prevalence of H. pylori using this method was low (34.7%). It was significantly associated with mean age and prior treatment for H. pylori eradication.