Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2025; 31(3): 95871
Published online Jan 21, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i3.95871
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Chinese military personnel: A cross-sectional, multicenter-based study
Han-Chen Min, Chun-Yan Zhang, Fang-Yu Wang, Xiao-Hui Yu, Shan-Hong Tang, Hong-Wu Zhu, Ya-Gang Zhao, Ji-Luo Liu, Jian Wang, Jing-Han Guo, Xiao-Mei Zhang, Yun-Sheng Yang
Han-Chen Min, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Medical School, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Han-Chen Min, Jian Wang, Jing-Han Guo, Xiao-Mei Zhang, Yun-Sheng Yang, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Chun-Yan Zhang, Sixth Healthcare Department, The Second Medical Center, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Fang-Yu Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiao-Hui Yu, Department of Gastroenterology, The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Lanzhou 730050, Gansu Province, China
Shan-Hong Tang, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu 610011, Sichuan Province, China
Hong-Wu Zhu, Ya-Gang Zhao, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Southern Theater Command, Guangzhou 510010, Guangdong Province, China
Ji-Luo Liu, Department of Epidemiology, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Jing-Han Guo, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Yun-Sheng Yang, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Co-corresponding authors: Xiao-Mei Zhang and Yun-Sheng Yang.
Author contributions: Zhang XM and Yang YS designed the study and contributed equally to the supervision of this manuscript, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; Min HC, Zhang CY, Wang FY, Yu XH, Tang SH, Zhu HW, and Zhao YG enrolled patients and collected the data; Min HC, Liu JL, Wang J, and Guo JH performed the data analysis and interpretation, and created the figures; Min HC and Zhang XM drafted and revised the manuscript; Yang YS critically revised the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (Approval No. S2022-358-01).
Informed consent statement: This study is a retrospective study. We had applied for wavier of informed consent form and it was approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (Approval No. S2022-358-01).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yun-Sheng Yang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. sunnyddc@plagh.org
Received: April 21, 2024
Revised: October 29, 2024
Accepted: November 26, 2024
Published online: January 21, 2025
Processing time: 242 Days and 22.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a prevalent disease encountered in military internal medicine and recognized as the main cause of dyspepsia, gastritis, and peptic ulcer, which are common diseases in military personnel. Current guidelines in China state all patients with evidence of active infection with H. pylori are offered treatment. However, the prevalence of H. pylori infection and its regional distribution in the military population remain unclear, which hinders effective prevention and treatment strategies. Understanding the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the military population will aid in the development of customized strategies to better manage this infectious disease.

AIM

To investigate the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the Chinese military population in different geographic areas.

METHODS

This multicenter, retrospective study included 22421 individuals from five tertiary hospitals located in north, east, southwest, and northwest cities of China. H. pylori infection was identified using the urea breath test, which had been performed between January 2020 and December 2021.

RESULTS

Of the 22421 military service members, 7416 (33.1%) were urea breath test-positive. The highest prevalence of H. pylori was in the 30-39 years age group for military personnel, with an infection rate of 34.9%. The majority of infected subjects were younger than 40-years-old, accounting for 70.4% of the infected population. The individuals serviced in Lanzhou and Chengdu showed a higher infection prevalence than those in Beijing, Nanjing, and Guangzhou, with prevalence rates of 44.3%, 37.9%, 29.0%, 31.1%, and 32.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

H. pylori infection remains a common infectious disease among military personnel in China and has a relatively high prevalence rate in northwest China.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Prevalence; Military personnel; Urea breath test; Multicenter study

Core Tip: This multicenter, retrospective study included 22421 participants from five tertiary hospitals located in north, east, southwest, and northwest China and investigated the current prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in Chinese military personnel. The H. pylori infection rate was 33.1%, and the highest prevalence of H. pylori was in the 30-39 years age group. Among military service members, 70.4% of the infected personnel were aged < 40 years. The individuals stationed in Lanzhou and Chengdu showed a higher infection prevalence than those stationed in Beijing, Nanjing, and Guangzhou, with prevalence rates of 44.3%, 37.9%, 29.0%, 31.1%, and 32.3%, respectively.