Epidemiology of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and Helicobacter pylori infection: review of 3,488 Thai patients

Background: The current epidemiology of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in Thailand is poorly understood and the reported prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection is outdated. Objectives: To investigate the etiologies of UGIB and prevalence of H. pylori infection in Thailand, including its association with UGIB. Methods: We retrieved information regarding patients attending the endoscopic unit of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital from June 2007 to January 2013. A database search using keywords "upper gastrointestinalbleeding" and "iron deficiency" was used. From 4,454 diagnoses, after exclusion criteria, 3,488 patients (2,042 male (58.5%) and 1,446 female (41.5%); mean age 63.3 ± 15.94 years, range 13-103 years) were included. Results: The three most common causes of UGIB were peptic ulcer (38.2%), nonulcer-mucosal lesions (23.4%), and esophageal-related causes (20.4%). The 5 year-incidence of H. pylori was 25%-30%. The overall prevalence was 27%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was found to decrease with age from 43.8% at 79 years old. H. pylori infection was significantly associated with duodenal and gastroduodenal ulcers. Cirrhosis and nonulcer-mucosal lesions were significantly unrelated to H. pylori infection. Patients with concurrentcirrhosis with peptic ulcer were found to be negative for H. pylori infection. Conclusion: Peptic ulcer is the leading cause of UGIB in Thailand. However, its incidence is declining. Patients who presented to hospital with UGIB were older, compared with those a decade ago. H. pylori infection playsan important role in UGIB and its incidence was stable during the past 5 years. Keywords: Epidemiology, Helicobacter pylori, Thailand, UGIB, upper gastrointestinal bleeding