Helicobacter pylori Infection and Predictors Among Dyspeptic Adult Patients in Southwest Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Globally, H. pylori infection affects approximately 4.4 billion people. The burden of the infection varies within and between countries, with a higher prevalence reported from developing countries including Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to determine the magnitude and predictors of H. pylori infection among dyspeptic patients who visited Wachemo University Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Referral Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia.

Methods: Consecutive willing dyspeptic adult patients (n=405) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study done from September to December 18, 2019. Socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of the study participants were gathered by a pretested structured questionnaire. Stool samples were examined for H. pylori antigens using Wondfo one step H. pylori feces test kit. SPSS version 20 was utilized to compute descriptive statistics, binary and multivariate logistic regression. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Mean age of patients was 30 (± 7.4 SD) years, and 56.8% of participants were females. About 51.4% (208/405) of adult dyspeptic patients were infected with H. pylori. Being female gender (AOR꞊ 2.56, CI 95% ꞊1.61-4.07, p꞊0.001), consumption of alcohol (AOR꞊1.95, CI 95% ꞊1.02-3.73, p꞊ 0.019) and being undernourished (underweighted) (AOR꞊ 4.59, CI 95%꞊ 1.28-16.45, p꞊0.019) were independent predictors of H. pylori infection.

Conclusion: In the study area, high (51.4%) magnitude of H. pylori infection was observed in dyspeptic patients and significantly associated with female gender, alcohol consumption, and undernourishment.