The Effect of Socioeconomic Status during Childhood on the Risk of Contracting H. Pylori

Abstract

Sanitation and water quality would play an important role in the acquisition and spread of H. pylori. In addition, the United Nations designated 2008 as the "International Year of Sanitation" to raise awareness related to sanitation issues worldwide and advance the Millennium Development Goal of decreasing the number of 2.6 billion people who lack access to even the most basic sanitation by 2015. This study aimed to identify the Helicobacter pylori-related risk variables.

Methods

All patients, regardless of gender, aged between 17 and 65 years, were interviewed and were asked to complete the questionnaires developed in this study. Here, the participants were asked to present their stool samples to determine the presence of H. pylori with the help of the HpSAg kit. Thereafter, the data was assessed using the SPSS statistical software, and P-value =0.05 were regarded as statistically significant.

Results

Out of the 100 participants included in this study, 65 (65%) were male, whereas 35 (35%) were women. The participants who had drunk unfiltered water during their childhood presented the highest infection rate (87.5 %) with P-value<0.05; whereas the participants who drank filtered water during their childhood showed an infection rate of 50.0%.

Conclusions:

The results of this study showed that the socioeconomic status of the participants during their childhood could be considered a risk factor for H. pylori infections.