Identification of the Risk Factors Associated with Helicobacter pyloriInfection in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

In this study, significant risk factors of Helicobacter pylori infection in Lahore are investigated through a case-control study by using descriptive and analytical approaches. A sample of 362 subjects was selected from the Gastroenterology Departments and OPDs of different hospitals of Lahore. About 25 risk factors with sub categories were included in the study. For bivariate analysis, the chi-square, phi/v statistics and Kendall’s tau-b are used. From descriptive analysis, it was found that the persons who eat from restaurants have more risk of infection as compare to persons who eat homemade food. By the descriptive analysis, it was also observed that risk of Helicobacter pylori infection increases with an increase in the number of family members per house and in the number of persons living per room. Furthermore, similar results were observed in the bivariate analysis. In the analysis, the five risk factors including age, food eat, food liked, dental complains and number of persons living per room are found to be positively significant having the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of odds ratios (1.025; 1.003-1.047), (9.596; 4.767-19.314), (3.500; 1.509-8.119), (3.204; 1.685-6.094) and (2.772; 1.496-5.139), respectively. While the three risk factors including usage of tea, educational level and sewerage system are found to be negatively significant having odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the odds ratios (0.221; 0.119-0.411), (0.216; 0.115-0.404) and (0.401; 0.218-0.738), respectively, which indicates that these three risk factors are protective factors against Helicobacter pylori infection. According to this study, the subjects who eat from restaurants have higher risk of Helicobacter pylori infection as compared to all other risk factors.