title: Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity among patients undergoing bariatric surgery: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) seropositivity in patients undergoing bariatric surgery with that of the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  H. pylori serologies, tested by ELISA, were collected on 240 morbidly obese patients seen at the Cleveland Clinic Florida and on 2444 randomly selected patients seen at the Cleveland Clinic Health System from 2003-2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  H. pylori prevalence was 61.3% in the bariatric surgery group versus 48.2% in the general population control group (p < 0.001). Bariatric patients had a 1.7-fold increased likelihood of having HP when compared with controls (95% CI = 1.3-2.2). Age over 35 years was an independent risk factor for HP seropositivity (p < 0.01) in both the bariatric and control groups. There was no association found between body mass index and seropositivity within the bariatric group. There was no significant association between seropositivity and gender (p = 0.776). However, there was a significant association between seropositivity and race (p < 0.01). African-Americans had four times more (OR = 4.05) probability of having HP seropositivity than Caucasians (p < 0.01). Hispanics had almost three times (OR = 2.6) more probability of having HP seropositivity than Caucasians (p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of HP seropositivity among bariatric patients is significantly higher than the general population control group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Cleveland Clinic Florida, 2950 Cleveland Clinic Blvd, Weston, Florida 33331, USA.
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erim
authors.forename: Marcia R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Cruz-Correa
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Szomstein
authors.forename: Evelio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Velis
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050110:Bariatric Surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors