Prevalence and Risk Factors of Helicobacter pylori Infection among Health Center Referrals in Khorramabad (West of Iran)

Helicobacter pylori infects about one half of the world population. Since there was no information about the epidemiology of H. pylori infection in Khorramabad, west of Iran, this study was done to determine the prevalence and potential risk factors of H. pylori infection in this region. Helicobacter pylori specific ELISA for the presence of IgG antibodies was done on the sera of 381 cases. A questionnaire was used to gather the information related to demographic, hygienic and lifestyle variables. The overall prevalence of infection was 43%. A positive association was found with increasing age (p = 0.002), premastication of food by mother (p = 0.019) and education level (p = 0.011), but not with gender and family size. The prevalence of the infection was lower than that in other parts of the country and it is predicted that it will decrease in the future because of the increasing education rate and reduction of bad hygienic behaviors such as food premastication by mothers.