Epidemiological Distribution of Risk Factors Contributing to Symptomatic Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Diyala Province, Iraq

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori is a worldwide spread bacterium, that invades the submucosal membrane of the stomach via feco-oral or feco-fecal transmission, causing several gastric and duodenal diseases. The study aims to assess risk factors for the symptomatic Helicobacter pylori infection and their epidemiological distribution. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2020 to May 2021 in Baquba, Iraq. It was conducted on a sample of outpatient patients who complain of various symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders, where the sample size was 194 patients, their ages ranged from 15 to 70 years, the main characteristics taken up in the study included age, sex, and place of residence, smoking status. H. pylori infection was recognized by identifying anti-H. Pylori (IgG) in patient serum using the ELISA technique. Chi-squared and Binomial tests were adopted to assess the difference between study variables. The study shows that the highest rate of infection was among patients aged 15-30 years (45.7%), most patients were females (66.3%), and the majority of them (68.5%) were rural dwellers. In conclusion, younger ages, female gender, rural dwellers, non-smokers, and those who complained of stomach pain were significantly associated with the helicobacter pylori infection.