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World J Gastroenterol. May 21, 2014; 20(19): 5625-5631
Published online May 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i19.5625
Blood pressure and stature in Helicobacter pylori positive and negative persons
Marcela Kopacova, Ilona Koupil, Bohumil Seifert, Miluska Skodova Fendrichova, Jana Spirkova, Viktor Vorisek, Stanislav Rejchrt, Tomas Douda, Ilja Tacheci, Jan Bures
Marcela Kopacova, Miluska Skodova Fendrichova, Stanislav Rejchrt, Tomas Douda, Ilja Tacheci, Jan Bures, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology, Charles University in Praha, Faculty of Medicine at Hradec Kralove, University Teaching Hospital, 50005 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Ilona Koupil, Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
Bohumil Seifert, Institute of General Practice, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, 12002 Praha, Czech Republic
Jana Spirkova, Viktor Vorisek, Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Diagnostics, Charles University in Praha, Faculty of Medicine at Hradec Kralove, University Teaching Hospital, 50005 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work.
Supported by Research project PRVOUK P37-08 (from Charles University in Praha, Faculty of Medicine at Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic)
Correspondence to: Marcela Kopacova, MD, PhD, Professor, 2nd Department of Medicine - Gastroenterology, Charles University in Praha, Faculty of Medicine at Hradec Kralove, University Teaching Hospital, Sokolska 581, 50005 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. marcela.kopacova@fnhk.cz
Telephone: +420-495-834240 Fax: +420-495-834785
Received: September 29, 2013
Revised: December 13, 2013
Accepted: January 8, 2014
Published online: May 21, 2014
Processing time: 231 Days and 11.5 Hours
Abstract

To evaluate vital signs and body indices in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) positive and negative persons. A total of 22 centres entered the study. They were spread over the whole country, corresponding well to the geographical distribution of the Czech population. A total of 1818 subjects (aged 5-98 years) took part in the study, randomly selected out of 38147 subjects. H. pylori infection was investigated by means of a 13C-urea breath test. Data on height, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were collected at the clinics of general practitioners. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 30.4% (402/1321) in adults (≥ 18 year-old) and 5.2% (26/497) in children and adolescents (≤ 17 year-old). Once adjusted for age and gender, only a difference in body mass index remained statistically significant with H. pylori positive adults showing an increase of 0.6 kg/m2 in body mass index. Once adjusted for age and gender, we found a difference in height between H. pylori positive and H. pylori negative children and adolescents. On further adjustment for place of residence, this difference became statistically significant, with H. pylori positive children and adolescents being on average 3.5 cm shorter. H. pylori positive adults were significantly older compared to H. pylori negative subjects. Once adjusted for age and gender, H. pylori infection had no impact on body weight, body mass index and vital signs either in adults or children and adolescents. Chronic H. pylori infection appeared to be associated with short stature in children. H. pylori infection did not influence blood pressure, body weight and body mass index either in adults or children and adolescents.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Helicobacter pylori; Czech Republic; 13C-urea breath test; Blood pressure; Heart rate; Weight; Stature; Body mass index

Core tip: Our group studied body indices and basic vital signs in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) positive and negative persons in 2001. The prevalence of H. pylori infection decreased significantly in the Czech Republic from 41.7% (2001) to 23.5% (2011). The aim of this multi-centre prospective study was to evaluate body indices and vital signs using comparable methods in the general population from identical geographical areas 10 years later. According to our current results, chronic H. pylori infection was associated with short stature in children. H. pylori infection did not influence blood pressure, body weight and body mass index either in adults or children and adolescents.