Prevalence of Helicobacter Pylori Infection among the Whole Spectrum of Age and the Performance of the Different Diagnostic Tests

Design, setting, participants & measurements: Three hundred and thirty eight patients were included in the study. They presented to the endoscopy suite at University College Hospital Galway, Ireland (UCHG) with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. The age range is 21-90 years with a median age of 52 years, 62% females, and 24% diabetics. They were divided into 3 groups 18-30 years, 31-60 years, and 61-90 years. The prevalence of H. pylori among the different spectrum of age is calculated using different methods of diagnosing H. pylori. Reliabilities of the diagnostic tests: The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for (i) Rapid urease test (RUT), (ii) ELISA, (iii) Histology and (iv) Culture. The rapid urease test was found to have a high sensitivity and specificity (89.5% and 96.8%), respectively. Although estimation of serum IgG H. pylori antibody by ELISA is relatively non-invasive procedure, unfortunately, it lacks sufficient sensitivity (63%) to be used as a sole diagnostic test for H. pylori infection. Histology on the other hand is widely available in most hospitals and has a relatively high sensitivity (77.4%) and specificity (75%).