Kassahun Haile* and Temesgen Abera
Background: Helicobacter pylori is one of the public health important bacteria that affected more than half of the global population. It is a primary cause of several gastrointestinal diseases and associated with the increased risk of developing gastric carcinoma. Determination of updated data on the burden of the infection and its predictors was important to plan and design effective intervention measures to prevent gastrointestinal complications and public health impacts. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection and its predictors among dyspeptic patients attending Wolkite University specialized hospital from September to December, 2020.
Method and materials: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 316 dyspeptic patients who attending the hospital during the study periods. Sociodemographic and other related data were collected using structured questionnaires. Stool specimen was collected and H. pylori stool antigen was detected by Wondfo H. pylori test kit the data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 22. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors variables, where a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection detected by stool antigen among study participants was 36.4% (95%CI: 31.0-39.9). Older age (AOR(adjusted odds ratio) (95%CI): 4.9(1.35,7.88), rural residence (AOR (95%CI): 2.7(1.49,4.9), larger family size (AOR(95%CI): 2.17(1.22,3.85), alcohol consumption (AOR(95%CI): 2.72(1.58,4.69), smoking cigarette (AOR(95%CI):2.29(1.22,4.3), and absence of washing hand after toilet (AOR(95%CI):3.46(1.86,6.44) were independent predictors of H. pylori infection among study participants.
Conclusion: In the current study area, high (36.4%) prevalence of H. pylori infection was observed among dyspeptic patients. Rural residence, older age, larger family size, absence of hand washing after toilet, the habit of alcohol consumption, and smoking cigarettes were significantly identified predictors of H. pylori infection. The finding of this study could be considered to design and implement intervention measures on identified predictors of the H. pylori infection among study participants. Moreover, provision of health educations on hygienic practices and behavioural factors of the study participants could aid to reduce the H. pylori infection rate.
Published Date: 2022-05-15; Received Date: 2022-02-27
