FREQUENCY OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION BY TESTING STOOL ANTIGEN IN PATIENTS WITH FUNCTIONAL DYSPEPSIA

Background: Functional dyspepsia is the most common cause of dyspepsia. Depending upon the geography a variable number of functional dyspepsia patients are infected with H. pylori and it is a common practice to treat it. The benefits of this test and treat strategy are the cure of peptic ulcer disease, its future prevention and symptom resolution in a significant subset of patients. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of H. pylori infection in patients with functional dyspepsia by detecting H. pylori antigen in the stool. Material Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one patients with functional dyspepsia fulfilling the Rome III criteria were included in the study in consecutive manner. They were classified into different groups based on their predominant symptoms. H. pylori stool antigen was tested to see its frequency in the functional dyspepsia patients. Results: Out of 221 patients included in the study 126(57%) were males and 95(43%) females. Mean age was 35.33 ±11.34 years. The mean duration of symptoms was 2.28± 2.21 years. Out of all patients 31% of the patients belonged to postprandial distress syndrome, 29% to epigastric pain syndrome and 40% to both groups. H. pylori stool antigen was positive in 51(25%) patients. Conclusion: Stool antigen test is a good non-interventional test for the detection of active infection in patients with functional dyspepsia which is comparable between various dyspepsia groups