D. Forman et al., EPIDEMIOLOGY OF, AND RISK-FACTORS FOR, HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION AMONG 3194 ASYMPTOMATIC SUBJECTS IN 17 POPULATIONS, Gut, 34(12), 1993, pp. 1672-1676
The cross sectional study describes the prevalence of infection with H
elicobacter pylori as determined by a serodiagnostic assay in over 300
0 asymptomatic subjects, in two age groups 25-34 years and 55-64 years
, from 17 geographically defined populations in Europe, North Africa,
North America, and Japan, using a common protocol for blood collection
and serological testing. In all populations combined, the prevalence
of infection was higher in the older age group (62.4%) than in the you
nger age group (34.9%). There was no difference in prevalence of infec
tion between men and women. Subjects with higher education had conside
rably lower levels of infection (34.1%) compared with subjects with ed
ucation up to secondary level (46.9%) or those with primary education
only (61.6%). This trend was confined to the older of the two age grou
ps. In contrast a trend of increasing prevalence of infection with inc
reasing body mass index was confined to the younger of the two age gro
ups. There was no effect of smoking or alcohol consumption on the prev
alence of infection after adjusting for the other risk factors. There
was considerable variation in the prevalence of infection between the
17 populations but, within populations, low education standard was con
sistently and positively associated with the prevalence of infection.