Has peptic ulcer disease changed during the past ten years in Korea? A prospective multi-center study.

Background: The incidence of H. pylori-negative, idiopathic peptic ulcer disease (IPUD) seems to be increasing with the changing trends of PUD and H. pylori infection in some developed countries.

Aim: To investigate the changing trend of PUD and the prevalence ofH. pylori infection during the last decade and the prevalence of IPUD in Korea.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated H. pylori infection and the characteristics of PUD in 895 patients with newly diagnosed PUD from September 2004 to February 2005.

Results: The H. pylori infection rate in PUD was 72.0% and the proportion of IPUD was 22.2%. The proportion of gastric ulcer (GU) has significantly increased (47.8% vs. 44.3%) and the proportion of duodenal ulcer (DU) has significantly decreased (38.9% vs. 44.9%) compared with ten years ago. The changing trend in the prevalence of H. pylori infection in GU and DU showed an increase in GU (66.1% vs. 73.1%, P = 0.014) and a decrease in DU (79.3% vs. 68.1%, P = 0.001).

Conclusion: Compared with our results of ten years ago, there has been a significant change in the distribution of PUD and in the prevalence of H. pylori infection in GU and DU. Patients with IPUD are not uncommon in Korea.