FREQUENCY OF POSITIVE TEST FOR HELICOBACTER PYLORI IN STOOL ANTIGEN IN PATIENTS OF PEPTIC ULCER DIAGNOSED ON UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY

Abstract

Background: Globally, one of the most common causes of peptic ulcer disease and persistent gastroduodenal inflammation is the infection with Helicobacter pylori. The Stool antigen test has proven to be an effective noninvasive way of diagnosing active infection of H. pylori in symptomatic patients. Timely diagnosis and elimination of the infection play a significant role in preventing severe gastrointestinal diseases. Aim: To find the prevalence of H. pylori detected by stool antigen in patients with peptic ulcer disease diagnosed on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and its association with demographic and clinical features. Methods: This cross-sectional research was carried out at the Department of Medicine in Amna Inayat Medical College within six months following the research synopsis approval. Non-probability consecutive sampling was used to enroll 100 patients with endoscopically confirmed peptic ulcer disease age 20-70 years. Demographic information, medical history, body mass index, length of illness, smoking, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, lifestyle, adherence to treatment, and chief symptoms were captured. All the participants were collected with stool samples that were tested on H. pylori antigen in the hospital laboratory. The data were processed in SPSS version 25 and chi-square and Spearman correlation tests were performed with p<0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 46.82 ± 12.64 years, while the mean BMI was 27.11 ± 4.35 kg/m². A positive result of Helicobacter pylori infection was shown by stool antigen testing in 63% of patients. H. pylori positivity was found to be significantly associated with smoking (p=0.001), diabetes mellitus (p=0.003), hypertension (p=0.028), sedentary lifestyle (p=0.006) and irregular treatment compliance (p=0.038). Positive infection status also demonstrated significant correlations with age (rₛ=0.291, p=0.018), BMI (rₛ=0.337, p=0.006), duration of disease (rₛ=0.401, p=0.001), and HbA1c levels (rₛ=0.356, p=0.004). Endoscopy showed gastritis in 31%, duodenitis in 24% and gastritis and duodenitis in 29% of patients. Stool antigen testing sensitivities of 88.4% and specificity of 81.3% and overall diagnostic accuracy of 85% were exhibited by the test to detect active infection. Conclusion: The incidence of H. pylori had been high in the patient of peptic ulcer disease diagnosed during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Stool antigen testing was a dependable, noninvasive, cheap and clinically efficient technique of identifying active infection.