The Trend of Eradication Rate of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Clinical Factors That Affect the Eradication of First-line Therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although triple combination therapy containing a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and two antibiotics is considered as a standard regimen for the first-line anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment, the recent trend of eradication rates following this therapy has been declined in the last few years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the trend of H. pylori eradication rates over the last 9 years and to evaluate are clinical factors affecting eradication rates. METHODS: From January 2001 to June 2009, H. pylori eradication rates in 709 patients with documented H. pylori infection who received triple combination therapy for 7 days were retrospectively evaluated according to years and various clinical factors. H. pylori status was evaluated by 13C urea breath test 4-6 weeks after completion of treatment. results: The overall H. pylori eradication rate was 77.0%. The annual eradication rates from year 2001 to 2009 were 78.9%, 72.5%, 81.0%, 75.0%, 79.1%, 77.1%, 77.8%, 77.8%, and 75.0% by per-protocol analysis. There was no decreasing tendency of the eradiation rate over 9 years (p=0.974). There was no statistical difference in the eradication rates according to age, sex, smoking, alcohol, NSAIDs, underlying diseases, endoscopic diagnosis, and PPI. However, the eradication rate was lower in patients who took aspirin (OR=0.509, 95% CI=0.292-0.887, p=0.001) and antibiotics within 6 months (OR=0.347, 95% CI=0.183-0.658, p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The H. pylori eradication rate has not changed at Gwangju-Chonnam province in Korea for recent 9 years. Lower eradication rate in aspirin and antibiotics users warrants further attention.