Decreasing prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection: a 9-year observational study.

Background/aims: Detailed information is still lacking on the trends of changes in Helicobacter pylori infection. The aim of the study was to investigate how the prevalence of H. pylori infection varied with gender and age during the past 9 years.

Methodology: A total of 8646 subjects who submitted to a rapid urease test were included. The prevalence of H. pylori infection according to age and gender was analyzed.

Results: H. pylori infection was noted in 3747 cases (43.3%) of all cases. The infection rate was 50.0% in 1997, but declined gradually down to 40.6% in 2005 (P < 0.001). The rate of H. pylori infection reached a peak at the age of 30-39 years and decreased thereafter in men while it reached a peak at the age of 40-49 years in women (P < 0.001). The prevalence was higher in men than in women before the age 50 years (P < 0.001) while there was no difference after the age 50 years (P = 0.28) in any of the years studied.

Conclusions: H. pylori infection has gradually decreased over the past decade, and there is a gender-related difference in the prevalence of H. pylori infection manifesting as a lower rate of infection in young women and an earlier plateau of infection rate in men.