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HealthDay News — Community Helicobacter pylori (HP) testing in high-risk individuals is technically feasible, according to a study published online April 3 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Shria Kumar, MD, from the University of Miami, and colleagues evaluated the results of community-based HP testing in an at-risk, underserved population. The analysis included 155 participants undergoing testing using a portable urea breath test machine.
The researchers found that 34% of participants had HP infection, 63% were negative, and 3% were indeterminate. HP infection was significantly more common among participants who were Hispanic/Latino (79 vs 54%), younger (48 vs 52 years), and non-English speakers (Spanish-speaking: 67 vs 30%). Among the 52 participants with infection, 42% were retested with confirmed eradication, 37% were unable to be recontacted, and 19% did not complete treatment. Barriers identified by participants included medication tolerability, frequent dosing, and logistics of attending a second testing session. High motivation for testing and treatment was seen among those with familiarity of the association between HP and gastric cancer.
“While our medication-focused eradication rate is 96%, suggesting acceptable rates of eradication based on antibiotic efficacy, an intention-to-treat analysis yields markedly lower results: among 52 with infection, only 42% had confirmed eradication,” the authors write.
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