Trends in the occurrence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Arada Sub-City: A 5-year retrospective study.

Helicobacter pylori infection remains a major public health problem in Ethiopia. This retrospective study aims at determining the prevalence of H. pylori infection over a period of 5 years, from 2016 to 2020 among dyspeptic patients at nine Health Centers of Arada sub-city, Addis Ababa. Data were collected from the patients record books of the nine Health Centers. At the health centers a stool antigen test is most often used than a serology antibody test, because stool antigen test is more specific and detects only an active infection. Chi-square analysis was employed to identify associations between variables. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. In the present study, the overall prevalence of H. pylori was 49.2%. The prevalence was higher among patients of age  60 years and above (59%); whereas it was lower in the age category of 15 to 29 years (43%). No association was observed between H. pylori infection and the sex (gender) of the studied cases.  However, statistically significant increments in H. pylori cases were observed over the five year study periods.  It can be concluded that the overall prevalence of H. pylori was 49.2% and there were no associations between sex (gender) and H. pylori infection. The authors would like to recommend the health centers to use stool antigen test and to provide an awareness for the study population.