Helicobacter pylori and Abdominal Symptoms: A Population-based Study Among Preschool Children in Southern Germany

Abstract

Objective. To determine the relation of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastrointestinal symptoms in a healthy population-based sample of children. Design. Population-based cross-sectional study of preschool children. Setting. Screening examination for school fitness by physicians of the Public Health Service in Ulm, a city with 100 000 inhabitants in southern Germany. Participants. One thousand two hundred one preschool children. Main Outcome Measures. Infection status was determined by13C-urea breath test. Information on gastrointestinal symptoms was collected from children's parents by a standardized questionnaire and integrated into a symptom score. Results. Nine hundred forty-five children participated in the study (response rate, 79%). Overall, 127 children (13.4%) were infected. H pylori infection was not positively related to specific gastrointestinal symptomatology. Infected children had even fewer symptoms when compared with uninfected children. Conclusions. Our results indicate that H pylori infection in children is mostly asymptomatic and not associated with specific gastrointestinal symptoms.