J Prev Med Public Health.  2008 Nov;41(6):373-379. 10.3961/jpmph.2008.41.6.373.

The Prevalence of Atrophic Gastritis and Intestinal Metaplasia according to Gender, Age and Helicobacter Pylori Infection in a Rural Population

• Kim HJ
• Choi BY
• Byun TJ
• Eun CS
• Song KS
• Kim YS
• Han DS

• KMID: 792592
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2008.41.6.373

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia according to gender, age and Helicobacter pylori infection in a rural population in Korea.
METHODS
Between April 2003 and January 2007, 713 subjects (298 men and 415 women, age range: 18-85) among the 2,161 adults who participated in a populationbased survey received gastrointestinal endoscopy. All the subjects provided informed consent. Multiple biopsy specimens were evaluated for the presence of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia. The presence of Helicobacter pylori was determined using CLO and histology testing.
RESULTS
The age-adjusted prevalence of atrophic gastritis was 42.7% for men and 38.1% for women and the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia was 42.5% for men and 32.7% for women. The prevalence of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia increased significantly with age for both men and women (p for trend<0.001). The ageadjusted prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was similar for men (59.0%) and women (56.7%). The subjects with Helicobacter pylori infection showed a significantly higher prevalence of intestinal metaplasia (44.3%) compared with that (26.8%) of the noninfected subjects (p<0.001). However, the prevalence of atrophic gastritis was not statistically different between the Helicobacter pyloriinfected subjects and the noninfected individuals.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the prevalence of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia is higher for a Korean rural population than that for a Western population; this may be related to the high incidence of gastric cancer in Koreans. Especially, the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia was high for the subjects with Helicobacter pylori infection. The multistep process of gastric carcinogenesis and the various factors contributing to each step of this process need to be determined by conducting future follow-up studies.

Keyword

Atrophic gastritis; Helicobacter pylori; Korea; Metaplasia; Prevalence

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Chi-Square Distribution
Demography
Female
Gastritis, Atrophic/*epidemiology/pathology
Helicobacter Infections/*epidemiology/pathology
*Helicobacter pylori
Humans
Intestine, Small/*pathology
Male
Metaplasia/epidemiology/pathology
Middle Aged
Rural Population
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors